I bet you're wondering what Gossip Girl is doing up so early. Truth is, I never went to bed. Why waste precious time dreaming when waking life is so much better? Is there anything better than a Lazy Sunday? Reading the paper in bed, sipping coffee, Scrambling and egg or two. Yeah right? We Upper East Siders don't do lazy. Breakfast is brunch, and it comes with champagne, a dress code, and a hundred of our closest friends... and enemies. Chuck's dad, Bart Bass is hosting the annual brunch for his foundation. Everyone is invited. Well, not everyone.
Cat'S POV:
Jenny and I were in our room when Dan raised the garage door/divider the separated his room from our room. "Hey. You guys are up." Dan said, but it was obvious that he was speaking more to Jenny than to me. "And you're checking up on Jenny." I told him, knowing just what he was trying to do. "And would it kill you to knock? Just because you have access to our room, doesn't mean you can abuse it." I told him.
"Besides, you don't need to keep checking up on me Dan." Jenny said, getting back to the original topic. "I'm ok, really, I'm ok. I was ok when you asked me at the party, in the cab, when we got home, before and after I brushed my teeth. I just feel really... stupid." She finished. I knew she wanted to say more, but she stopped herself when she looked at me. I tried to ask them what happened at the party last night, but neither one would give me a straight answer. All they told me was that there was an issue that mad Dan and Serena go to the party to tale Jenny home.
"The better question is, how are you?" Jenny asked Dan. "Why's that a better question?" I asked Jenny. "At the end of the night, when we dropped off Serena at the Palace, Dan ended the night with a wave." she told me, and I turned towards Dan and said, "Please tell me she's joking." All he could say was "I didn't think it was that bad." I ran over to him and smacked him upside the head.
"You idiot!" I yelled at him. "Why didn't you just give her a fist bump and say 'See you around pal'?" I loved my brother, really I did, but sometimes he could be a real idiot. "Your'e right," Dan said as he put a hand to his face in frustration and started to pace. "She probably thinks I hate her now. I waited my entire adolescent life for a date with this girl, and I decided to close the evening with a wave. I blew it."
"Which means you have nothing to lose." Jenny told him. "Nothing but my last shred of dignity," he countered. "Please, you lost that years ago." I told him. "Not funny," he told me as he pointed at me, "But you're right. I'll just go talk to her. Apologize for the wave, tell her how much I like her, and ask for a second shot. I'm gonna get a second shot." "Just remember to take a shower first." I told him. "And change into a better outfit." Jenny told him. Dan proceeding to look as his clothes and smell himself before he gave us a thumbs up, walked back to his room, and closed the garage door.
Nick's POV:
I was in Chuck's suite with him and Nate when I could hear some weird vibrations. When I saw that it was Nate's phone I woke him up. "Nate, answer your phone." I told him. "Hello?" he said in the phone, obviously still not quite awake. "No, I'm up." He said in response to the person on the other end of the conversation. "Oh right. Of course." he said before hanging up his phone and throwing it back on the coffee table. I knew that there were only three people that would be calling him at the moment, one of our parents, or Blair. My money was on Blair.
"Nathaniel, Nicholas, keep it down." Chuck said from his bed of women, not knowing which one of us was making the noise. "Some of us are trying to regain our strength." Wether he was talking about getting over his hangover or regaining his strength from his menage au trois I couldn't say, nor did I ever want to find out.
"Your dad's brunch is today." Nate said as he sat up on the couch. "Alarm's set for 9:00." Chuck assured us. "Then why does the clock say 10:00" I asked as I sat up on the other couch. "Chuck sighed and got back up before waking up his dad's waitresses. "Ladies, double-time. Unless... gentlemen?" "We're good." Nate said. "Actually could you bring some coffee when you get a chance." I said as they made themselves presentable. "And some water. Lots of water." Nate added on. "You want some ice with that?" one of the girls asked, before turning to Chuck. "It looks like you could use some." "That's enough ladies. And I'll be sure to tell my father just how committed you are to the hospitality industry." Chuck said as he escorted the girls out of his suite.
When the girls left the room, Nate and I got up and took a better look at Chuck's eye. "That kids popped you pretty good, huh?" I said remembering how Chuck told us about how a guy punched him after he was found messing around with the guy's sister. "Never mess a guy's sister." Nate said as we sat in the bar stools. "If i Knew his name. I'd hunt him down and kill him." Chuck said as he made his hangover drink. "What, 'cause you kill people now? You gonna strangle him with your scarf?" I asked sarcastically as I picked up Chuck's scarf and threw it in his face.
"Don't mock the scarf, Nicholas, it's my signature." Chuck told me. "He'd got a point though. Death by scarf, not that intimidating." Nate said, joining me in my mockery. "He sucker-pinched me. I told you two." Chuck said, trying to act like, he would've fight the guy if he had a chance. "Besides, better a broken nose than a broken heart." "What? Cat wasn't even at the party last night." Nate said. Chuck and I looked at each other then at Nate. "Who's Cat?" we asked, wondering who Nate was talking about. "She's my tutor. I started seeing her Monday and she's helping me bring my grades up." Nate explained to us. "That explains why you've been taking your studies so seriously lately." I said, having noticed how hard he's been working on homework and stuff at home lately. "Is she hot?" Chuck asked. "Seriously, Chuck?" I asked, wondering if he ever stopped thinking of hooking up with anything with breasts.
Cat's POV:
(A/N: Cat's hair and outfit. I've decided to make Cat a theatrical person, so a lot of her outfits will be inspired by plays and movies.)
Once again Dan lifted the garage door/divider between his room and mine and Jenny's room, wanting to get our approval on his outfit. "Do I look okay?" he asked us. "Much better," I said. "Definitely second-shot material." Jenny said in agreement. "Cat, will you come with me?" Dan asked me as he adjusted his jacket. "Why do I have to go?" I asked him. "Because, you'll be able to help me make sure I don't say something stupid." He told me. "Good point, let's go." I told him as I went to grab my jacket. "Oh, Jenny about what happened last night." Dan said, still leaving me in the dark. "I you want to talk to somebody, that's not us, just let me know." "Okay." Jenny said. "Actually, could you guys wait a second. There is someone I wanna talk to."
After Jenny got dressed, we all made our way out of the loft, but not without bumping into Dad. "Hey, hey, where are you guys going? I was gonna make waffles." I swore right then and there that I was going to kill dan for making me go with him to see Serena. waffles are my most favorite breakfast for ever, especially when Dad makes them. "Sorry, Dad." Jenny said. "Yeah we can't." dan said giving me a pointed look, that boy owed me big time. "But I want to hear about your date." dad said to Dan. "Later" Dan said. "And your party." Dad said to Jenny. "When we get back." Jenny said as she went out the door. "You guys missed a great show." he told them. 'Already told them so Dad." I said as Dan yanked me out of the loft. "And I make really good waffles." He yelled out as Dan closed the door.
Nick's POV:
"Hi. This is, uh, Nate Archibald calling from the Bass Suite." I heard Nate say on the phone as I got myself ready for brunch. "I know you don't normally give out this information, but van you tell me what room the van der Woodsen are in please?"
"Nate, are you crazy?" I whisper yelled at him as I tried to grab the phone away from him. "Blair going to kill you." "Shhh" he said as he shoved me away. "Thank you." he said as he hung up the phone. "They can't give me any information." he said as he got his jacket.
"Please tell me you're not going to try and talk to Serena after you promised Blair that you wouldn't talk to Serena." I begged him. "Only to tell her why we're not talking." He tried to defend. "That makes no sense" I told him. "Whatever, are you coming are not?" he told me as he made his way out the door. "Fine," I told him, "But only to make sure you don't do anything stupid." And with that, we we made our way to the lobby.
Cat's POV:
Dan and I walked up to the Palace Hotel and made our way into the lobby and over to the reception desk. "Hello," I said, getting the receptionist's attention, who according to his name tag, was named Dexter. "My brother was here with Serena van der Woodsen." "Yes, how could I forget?" he said, as he looked over at Dan with a stern look.
"Yeah, well, um is she in?" Dan said, a bit intimated by Dexter. "Just missed her, actually, but you're welcome to wait." Dexter said gesturing to two chairs behind us. "Okay, maybe we will." Dan said, "She probably won't be that long, right?" "Once, she went out, and didn't come back for six months, but feel free to sit." Dexter said, obviously tired of Dan. "Thank you, Dexter." I said as I pulled dan over to the chairs so we could wait for Serena.
Nick's POV:
Nate and I just got off the elevator to the main floor when we bumped into Mrs. van der Woodsen. "Nate, Nick, hi. It's great to see you." She said as we started walking with her to the lobby. "Always good to see you Mrs. van der Woodsen." I said to her. "I'm just heading out." she told us. "Oh, is Serena in?" Nate asked. "Oh, you just missed her, but I'll tel her the two of you came by. I'm sure she'll be happy to hear it." She said. "Uh, I don't know about that." I said as a secretly gave Nate a pointed look. "Come on, Serena loves you boys. In fact, I think she's always had a little crush on Nate. Of course, you and Blair are the perfect couple." Mrs. van der Woodsen said. Oh, how I wanted to tell her how she didn't even know the half of it.
"Is Serena gonna be long?" Nate asked her, wanting to change the subject. "We could just wait." "Oh well Dexter can take care of you." she said a s she pointed over to Dexter. "I'm just gonna step out for a while. Nate and Nick are just going to wait for Serena" "Great, they can get in line behind those two." Dexter said, gesturing to a boy and girl around mine and Nate's age.
"I had a feeling you'd be back." Mrs. van der Woodsen said to the boy. "Dan is it?" "Humphrey. Yes." Dan said in response as he went to shake Mrs. van der Woodsen's hand. "Nice to see you again Mrs. van der Woodsen. I hope you've a pleasant, uh... 21 hours since I last saw you." "Yes, they have been pleasant, until now." She said with disdain in her voice as she turned to the girl standing next to Dan. "And you are?" "Catherine Humphrey, Mrs. Van der Woodsen, but everyone calls me Cat. It's such a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Catherine, or rather Cat said with a curtsy. "The feeling's mutual." Mrs. Van der Woodsen said as she looked Cat up and down, seemingly charmed by Cat's personality. "Gentlemen. Catherine" She said as she left the building.
With Mrs. Van der Woodsen gone it left the four of us with each other, and the awkwardness could be cut with a chainsaw. "Good to see you again Nate. I hope the study guides I gave you are helping." Cat said trying to eases the tension. "They are, thanks again for those by the way." Nate said in response. I nudged him with my shoulder so he could remember to introduce me. "Oh, sorry. This is my twin brother Nick." he said. "Nice to meet you." I said as I went to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you too. But, I already knew who you were. Everybody knows about the Archibald twins." Cat said as she shook my hand. And with that we all went to sit down.
Serena's visit was short. And apparently not very sweet. But you know what is? Revenge. We hear it's best served cold. Who's hungry?
Cat's POV:
After a while Dan and I got tired of just sitting around in the lobby so we went out side to stretch our legs and breathe a little fresh air. The Archibald twins had the exact same idea. "So what did you guys want to talk to Serena about?" Dan said, wanting to ease the tension. "Nothing, we were just in the neighborhood." Nate said, even though that was an obvious lie. "What about you you guys." Nate asked in return, although that question was really aimed at my brother. "We are nowhere near the neighborhood, but I'm looking for a better excuse." Dan said. "I got dragged into this." I added, wanting it to be very clear I had no idea why I needed to be involved, but I couldn't deny the butterflies in my stomach when I saw Nate laugh at my comment.
"So are you and Serena like, together or...?" Nick asked trying to get a better feel of what Dan's situation with Serena is. "I... I don't know." Dan said. Personally I don't get how hard it would've been for him to say that he and Serena had a date last night, and him being him, made it completely awkward by the end of the night. Now that I think about it, that would've been too much info, which really wouldn't have been outside of Dan's nature anyway.
Obviously, I blocked out whatever was said next because the next thing I knew, Chuck Bass was walking up to us. And by us I obviously meant he was walking up to Nate and Nick while ignoring the Dan and I even existed. "Nathaniel, Nicholas there you two are. What are you guys doing here?" he said to the twins. "Nothing man, just waiting for you." Nate said as he and Nick walked up to Chuck. Meanwhile Dan Looked like he wanted to strangle Chuck, and I had no idea why. "Him?" Chuck said, making it clear that he wanted to strangle my brother as much as my brother wanted to strangle him. "What are you doing here?" He demanded to know as Nate and Nick quickly held him back, which is exactly what I was doing with Dan at that moment. "Why, is this your hotel or something?" Dan said. "Yes it is Daniel." I said to him with frustration oozing off of me, partially because I tend to get cranky when I'm hungry and partially because even though I love my brother, sometimes he could be an idiot. Anyone who reads Gossip Girl knows that Chuck's dad owns the Palace Hotel.
"Yeah, so unless you have a reason to be here, i'll have to ask you and your girlfriend to wait on the curb with the rest of the trash." Chuck said. "Trash?" "I am so not his girlfriend!" Dan and I said at the same time. I probably should've been more pissed about the trash remark, but I will be damned if anyone even thinks that Dan and I could ever be boyfriend and girlfriend. "Look, man, my sister and I live in Brooklyn. All right? Not the Ozarks. No offense to the Ozarks. But, don't you think we're taking this class warfare thing a little too far?" Dan said. "I haven't even started." Chuck said as he almost managed to escape Nat and Nick's grasps on him.
"Ok man let's just go." Nate said, as he and Nick both tightened their grips on Chuck. "Don't tell me you're sticking up for Serena's new bitch. If anyone has a reason to kick this guy's ass it's you." Chuck said to Nate, which confused me because last time I checked he was dating Blair Waldorf. "He's not worth it. Come on Chuck, not here." Nick said, trying to calm Chuck down. "This isn't over" Chuck said to Dan as he and the twins went for a walk. "Anytime man. That one black eye is looking lonely." Dan said in retaliation.
Once they left, I smacked Dan upside the head and got in front of him to get some answers. "What the hell is going on between you and Chuck Bass? Does this have anything to do with whatever happened last night that made it necessary for you and Serena to cut your date short and pick up Jenny from the Kiss on the Lips party?" "Relax Cat. Everything's fine and under control." Dan said. "Could've fooled me." I said.
We spent about another half hour waiting for Serena. I was watching Dan walking in a pattern outlined on the ground when I turned around and saw Serena walking up to us. "Dan. Cat. Hey." she said when we both saw her staring at us. "We were in the neighborhood." Dan said, trying and failing to be cool and casual. "Give or take 70 blocks." I said as I eyed my brother, silently telling him that he just came up with the lamest excuse ever for why he was waiting around for her, and he silently told me to shut up in return. "I just wanted to tell you in person. Last night may not have been my finest hour. There was a wave." Dan said, and actually got Serena to laugh while she mimicked his wave. "I saw that."
"Yeah, and since then, I've just been wondering..." Dan paused, obviously trying to formulate his next move. Which I don't understand, he should've had it all planned out while we were waiting around for her. "Are you hungry?" I asked Serena, wanting to save my brother from further humiliation. "Yes actually. I've had the worse morning." Serena said, mostly to Dan. "Well, do you wanna talk? And eat. Not necessarily in that order." Dan said, having seen his opening to get his second chance with Serena. "Yes, I would love to do both." Serena said, elated by my brother's invite. "But food first. Because I'm starving.
"Great, just in time for brunch." Mrs. Van der Woodsen said as she made her presence known to the three of us. "Mom." Serena said when she saw her mother, and she did not seem happy about that. "Mrs. Van der Woodsen." Dan said, mostly to be polite. "Dan." Mrs. Van der Woodesen replied back, rather coldly. "Hello Catherine. I see you and your brother are still here." She said to me, but while she was icy with my brother, I got the warm reception from her. "Lovely to see you again Mrs. Van der Woodsen." I said to her.
"Look, Mom, I really don't think it's a good idea for me to go to brunch." Serena said, trying to get out of what was obviously an obligation to her mother. "You promised."said Mrs. Van der Woodsen. "Yeah that was before..." Serena started, trying to come up with an excuse. She was clearly drowning, so I threw her a life preserver. "Before she knew that Dan and I were hungry, too." That's right I threw myself into the equation. If I was going to go through all this drama, might as well ge t a meal out of it. "Right," Serena said as she picked up one trying to help her. I can't let them starve." It would be inhumane." Dan added.
"They're not invited." Mrs. Van der Woodsen stated. "That's why I'm going with them." Serena replied. "Because we can't go with her." Dan and I confirmed. "Serena," Mrs. Van der Woodsen started as she took off her sunglasses. I had never felt so intimidated by an adult in my entire life. "You're home. Living under my roof, my rules. What is it going to take to get you dressed and through that door?"
And that is how Daniel and Catherine Humphrey found themselves at the Bass Brunch in the Palace Hotel. On my end, I received welcoming smiles from the Archibald twins. On Dan's end, he received a death glare from Chuck Bass. And for some reason on Serena's end, Blair Waldorf looked like she wanted her head brought to her on a silver platter. "Maybe this was a bad idea." Serena said. "Yeah this wad definitely a bad idea." Dan confirmed. "While you too formulate your escape plan. I'm going to get something to eat." I said, as awkward as this was, I was determined that I would eat something.
Looks like Chuck and Blair showed up with quite an appetite. For destruction, that is.
Nick's POV:
I caught Nate gesturing to Serena to come talk to him in private away from Dan and Cat. Knowing that this could end badly I decided to hide in the background and make sure he didn't do anything stupid.
"Serena, I really need to talk to you." Nate said. "Actually I need to talk you which means you can listen." Serena interrupted. "Nate you told Blair what were you thinking?" He was thinking that if he didn't tell his girlfriend soon then his brother would do it, although I couldn't exactly walk up to Serena and tell her that myself. "Look I want to explain. But we can't talk here." Nate said. "What where Blair might see us?" Serena said, sounding more annoyed with each minute. "Meet me in Chuck's suite." my idiot brother told her. "I'm not sneaking around with you." she said. "Please just to talk." he begged. "Ten minutes." she said, to which he confirmed "I'll meet you up there."
"Well that explains the daggers in Blair's eyes when we walked in." I heard from behind meg and it made me want to jump out of my skin. when I turned around I saw that it was Cat Humphrey. "Cat, how much of that did you hear?" I makes her. "All of it. Serena told Dan and I she had to use the ladies' room, and I was trying to catch her to find where it was." she explained to me.
"Cat, Nick. What are you guys doing?" Nate said when he saw the two of us talking. "Nick was just making sure this brunch wasn't over whelming me too much." Cat said covering for me. "By the way how are the study guides I gave you." "They've been really helpful. Thanks for asking." Nate replied. "Well i'm going to go check on my brother. Nate, see you at our next session. Nick it was nice to meet you." She said as she shook my hand and then walked off.
Once she was out of hearing range I went straight to confronting Nate. "What the hell are you doing man? You promised Blair you wouldn't talk to Serena, and then I find out that you're having a secret rendezvous with her while Blair's in the next room." "It's not like that Nick. I just want to clear the air so that she knows that it's not me that wants to end out friendship." Nate said in defense of himself. "Cat better be a miracle worker of a tutor, because you act like you don't have a brain." I said a we walked back to our group.
When we walked back in the room , we found our dad and Blair talking. "Hey guys." I said as we made our way over to the pair. "Looks like you need a refill. I'll be right back." Nate said to Blair as he grabbed her glass and kissed her cheek. "I'll go with you." Dad said as he walked off with Nate, probably to talk business.
Once they were gone, I turned to Blair. "How have you been Blair?" I asked. "Couldn't be happier Nick." she said, but I knew that was a lie. "You know you don't have to pretend with me Blair. If you ever need anyone to vent to, or a shoulder to cry on you can come find me. No questions asked and no judgements made." I told her. "Thanks Nick." Blair said with a small smile. "I just can't believe Serena came to this brunch I told her to stay away."
"Are you worried about Nate?" Chuck asked as he decided to make his presence known to us. We turned to him with looks of exasperation on our faces. "Just a shot in the dark. I think you know what you need to do to get his attention." he said as he pulled out a key. "What's that?" Blair asked unimpressed. "The key to my suite, Nate's heart, and your future happiness." Chuck said as Blair took the key without hesitation. But in typical Chuck fashion he ruined a kind gesture by saying, "I'm honored to play even a small roll in your deflowering." "You're disgusting." Blair said. "Yes I am so why be shy. Just grab Nate and finish this. Then report back with details." Chuck said and, just like that Blair walked off to finally lose her virginity to my brother. Meanwhile I stood there looking at her, trying to stop myself from trying to stop her and steal her away for myself.
"Poor Nicholas. You had an opening and refused to take it." Chuck said to me. "What are you talking about?" I asked him. "Oh, please. I'm not an idiot. I know you're in love with Blair." I swore in that moment, my heart stopped. But then I had to remind myself that it was Chuck I was talking to, and Chuck knew almost just as much as Gossip Girl. "Well, if you know how I feel about Blair, why did you give her the key to your suite and the green light to have her way with Nate?" I asked him wondering what his evil scheme was.
"Partly it was to see what your reaction would be. And party it's like I said, to be a small part in Blair's deflowering. But don't worry Nicholas. I'm sure when she gives me details, she'll also share them with you so you'll have something to work with when you dream about her." Chuck said. "If you were any other person, I'd push you in the face." I told him as I walked away from him.
Cat's POV:
Now I know when you hear something that you shouldn't, the appropriate thing to do is pretend you never heard it and leave it alone. But my conscience wouldn't let me do that. So I followed Serena up to Chuck's suite and when she walked in I knocked on the door. "Cat. I wasn't expecting to see you." She said when she opened the door. "I know. You were expecting to see Nate. And don't try to deny it, Nick and I overheard you guys downstairs at brunch." I said as I made my way into the suite.
"Look Cat, it was a long time ago. And I'm trying to change." Serena said. "Relax Serena. I'm not here to judge you, or Nate for that matter. From what I know about the two of you and from what I've seen you're two good people who made a mistake." I told her. "Do you really mean that?" She asked, not quite believing that I wasn't there to slut shame her. "Was it only the one time?" "Yes." "Do you regret it?" Completely" "Then that's all that matters." Just as I was about to talk her into leaving the suite with me, we heard the door open and looked at each other. "Quick, the closet. I'll let you know when the coast is clear." Serena quickly whispered to me. And that is where I found myself, and where things somehow became more awkward. "Nate." Serena said. "Serena?" Blair's voice said, clearly flabbergasted. "Blair." Serena said as if she were a toddler with her hand caught in the cookie jar.
Spotted: N and B, hot and heavy in the halls of the Palace Hotel. Only to find S already waiting.Sparks were flying for sure, but will it be a three-way or D-Day?
"What is she doing here." Blair said, ready to go in for the kill. "I was meeting Nate." Serena said. "Only to talk I swear." Nate said, clearly trying to diffuse the situation. "You said you'd never speak to her again!" Blair said. "You said that? Why would you say that" Serena asked him. Obviously Nate's plans to diffuse the situation were epically failing. "Because, you can't be trusted." Blair threw at Serena. "It's not Serena's fault" Nate said in Serena's defense. "Do not defend her." Obviously Blair was having none of that. "i asked her to come ." Nate said. "Oh so you want to talk to her." Blair said. "Yes, to explain why I'm not talking to her." How the hell do you talk to someone about why you're not talking to them. Clearly, Nate needed more tutoring sessions than I thought.
"Maybe I'll leave you too to finish that fascinating conversation." Blair said, partly sad and partly furious. "Oh no, I'll go. Let you guys get back to your quicky." Serena said, apparently about to leave the room, along with leaving me stuck in the closet. "It wasn't a quickie. Sex is actually a big deal to some of us." Blair told Serena. "Oh yeah, I can see tat. Chuck's suite? Very romantic. Classy too." Serena said sarcastically, though I'm not really sure if someone who sleeps with their best friends boyfriend should be judging someone else on what's considered as classy. "Oh, like you?" Blair said. "I bet your new friend Dan would love to hear about how classy you are." Blair said, and I could hear the door open and close. Knowing that the shit was going to be hitting the fan real quick I jumped out of the closet.
"Cat what are you doing here?" Nate asked, surprised to see me come out of the closet. "Well right now I'm going to run down these stairs and try to stop Blair from ruining Dan and Serena's chance at being together." I said as I ran out of the room. Nate and Serena were soon behind me. "I can't believe you told her." Serena said to Nate as we all raced down the stairs. "You just expected me to keep it a secret?"Nate asked. "Yes, Nate," Serena answered. "There's nothing wrong with keeping a secret if the truth is gonna hurt someone." "That's a hell of a way to look at things." Nate said in disagreement. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize all of a sudden you were the most honest guy on the planet." Serena said with sarcasm dripping off of her tongue.
"Guys can we focus here. We don't have much time to beat Blair to Dan." I said, trying to get them to focus on our main goal at the moment.
Good news was that we found Dan, the bad news was that we found Dan with Blair. "Dan," "Blair" Serena and I said at the same time as we walked up to the pair. "Hey, where were you guys?" Dan asked us. "Well I don't know about that one," Blair said as she looked at me, "but Serena was waiting in a hotel room for my boyfriend." "To talk," Serena clarified. "About why we weren't talking." Nate added on. "That doesn't sound any smarter the second time." Blair and I said together, and I avoided eye contact with her, hoping that I didn't just give away that I was in the suite along with them.
"Why weren't you talking?" Dan asked then added on, "Does this have anything to do with why you and Nick were waiting for Serena this morning?" "You were what?!" Blair said, floored by this new revelation. "And here I thought you two were waiting for me." Chuck said as he and Nick made their way over to us. "Oh, exactly what this situation needs, Chuck" Dan said sarcastically. "What's going one here?" Nick asked trying to play catch-up.
"Oh we were just getting to that." Blair said, ready to set off the grenade she had in her hand. "Blair please don't do this." Serena begged. "Sorry did you want to tell him." Blair said. I was honestly hoping she would say yes. News like this is always better from the source. "I'll tell him." Chuck volunteered, and how he knew I don't think I want to know. "You know?" Nate, Blair and Nick said altogether. "I know everything." Chuck said. "And apparently, my sister and I know nothing." Dan said. "Actually, it's only you that's in the dark Dan." I told him, a bit ashamed, that I knew before him.
"Dan it was a long time ago, and I regret it..." Serena started to say, but Chuck was all too glad to cut her off and finish the story for her. "Serena, stop trying to pretend you're a good girl. So you slept with your best friend's boyfriend. I kind of admire you for it." And like I said, the shit hit the fan. "Is that true," Dan asked Serena looking disappointed that his dream girl wasn't who he thought she was. "And then she ran away and lied about it." Blair said, although it was more so aimed at Serena than anyone else. "I just thought you should know, before you fall head over heels for your perfect girl and her perfect world. Then get left all alone with no one but you cabbage patch kid."
"Cabbage Patch Kid?" Nate and Nick said together. "Did you talk to our sister?" I asked Blair. "Oh yes, Little Jenny." Chuck said, making Dan turn to him. "I do believe she and I have unfinished business." "Dan what the hell is he talking about?" I asked him, still not knowing what happened at that party the other night. "Well if you don't want to tell her I will." Chuck said when Dan ignored my question. Obviously Dan wasn't for that idea, because the next thing I knew he shoved Chuck into one of the waiters and caused a whole tray of mimosas to come crashing down off the tray they were holding. Needless to say that this caused everyone to stare at him.
"It's fine everyone can stop looking. He's a jerk, but it's my fault and we're leaving. Come on Cat." Dan said as he dragged me out of the room. "I'll go with you guys." Serena said as she began to follow us. "I'd actually prefer if you didn't." Dan said, stopping he ran her tracks and still dragging me along with him.
Some might call this a fuster-cluck, but on the Upper East Side we call it Sunday afternoon.
Once we were outside of the hotel, I heard Serena right behind us. "Dan, Cat wait! I'm so sorry." "There's no need to be, really. We shouldn't have come here today. We made a mistake." Dan said. Even though last I checked, I didn't;t want to be here in the first place.
"No, you didn't," Serena said. "Look, I'm sorry about Blair and Chuck." "It's not about them," Dan replied, "I mean, it is, but it's not just them." "No, I know trust me, I know. This world is crazy." Serena tried to explain. "Yeah it is and you're apart of it. Dan said shooting down Serena's attempts to explain the situation. "What you didn't know that." Serena asked him, which was honestly a fair question. "I thought you were different." He said as he started to make us leave again.
"Well I'm sorry I'm not who you thought I was." Serena said, making us stop in our tracks. "But what's happened is in the past. And all I can do is try to change. And if you cam't accept that then maybe you're not who I thought you were." And once she was finished Dan started to walk again. But as I involuntarily followed with him, I turned to Serena and mouthed how sorry I was for what just happened.
But after the fist block I got tired of Dan man handling me and yanked my arm out of his grip. "What wrong with you?" he asked me. "What wrong with me? The better question is what's wrong with you." I threw back at him. He just looked at me confused " 'I thought you were different?, Dan you spoke to her once two years ago, and the only things you know about her are the things you've read about on Gossip Girl. How the hell did you think she was different based on this things." I pointed out to him.
"You don't understand Cat." Dan said to me, trying to get me to see his side. "You're right I don't understand. How do you stand there and listen to someone say that they're trying to be a better person and ignore that because the reality of that person didn't measure up to your ridiculous fantasies?" I said as I backed away from him and left him by himself.
Later that day I was at the Wicked Cafe & Bar for my shift. "Hey Kit-Kat. What wrong hon?" Jo said to me as I struggled with the espresso machine. "Nothing much, just my brother being an idiot." I told her. "So the usual problems" she said trying to get me to laugh. Mission accomplished.
But my smile soon turned to a look of shock when I saw Nate Archibald walk through the door. "Nate, what are you doing here?" I asked him, wondering why he wasn't with Blair at the moment. "I was hoping we could talk about earlier." He said as he looked at Jo, silently asking for her permission to pull me away for a bit. "Go ahead, I have to make sure you didn't murder my poor defenseless espresso machine." Whether or not she was joking, I'll never know.
"What's up Nate," I asked him as we sat down to talk. "I wanted to apologize for the fiasco you had to witness. I know you didn't want to get wrapped up in all of this drama when you agreed to tutor me. Also, Nick told me that you know abut what happened between Serena and I. So if you want to quit being my tutor and leave me on my own, I'll understand." He said, sounding disappointed in himself. "Nate," I started out with a sigh, "You're right I didn't sign up for the drama of the Upper East Side when I agree to tutor you. But I'm not going to leave you over it. I mean sure you made a dumb choice by sleeping with you girlfriends best friend. But, you also tried to make it right by telling her the truth." I said but I wasn't;t quite finished. "I may not have known Nate Archibald then, but the Nate I'm getting to know now is a guy who seems to be trying to do the right thing, and that's a guy I want to help." "Thanks Cat." Nate said to me.
Before he left I asked him if he wanted anything to take with him. He came to the counter placed in his order, and once it was ready he took it and went out the door, but not before giving me a hug. I didn't know why at the time, but when he hugged me it felt like my body was floating and I didn't want to come down. Unfortunately Gossip Girl had other plans.
Spotted: Golden Boy cuddling up with a certain little Kitty. I warned you about playing nice Kitty, let's just see what Queen B has to say about this.
That made my blood run cold. If today was any indication Blair Waldorf is not someone you want to cross in anyway, shape or form.
Nick's POV:
I was at Blair's penthouse. I needed to see her, not as the guy who was secretly in love with her but as the friend who wanted to comfort his friend while she was hurting.
"Blair, it's Nick. Can you open the door, please?" I said as I knocked on her door. It didn't take long for her to do so. She looked completely shattered. Not that I could blame her. "If you're here on behalf of your brother, save your breath. He and I are still together." She said as she went to her bed. "I'm here for you, actually." I said as I followed he to sit at the end of her bed.
"Look I know you're hurting and that you everyone and everything right now, but this isn't healthy for you. You either forgive Nate and move on from this, or you end it with him. But no matter what, just know that I'll always be here for you." I couldn't help but reach out and touch her hand. Amazingly she accepted my hand and held onto it. "Sometimes it feels like you're the only one that I can count on." Blair said to me as she pulled me in for a hug. "You've always been such a good friend Nick."
Any other time, being friend zoned would've hurt. But for now, All I cared about was being there for Blair.
Well Serena's mystery man is a mystery no longer. His name is -- oh who cares? Now that he and S are over so are his 15 minutes. But his sister Jenny was spotted with a new dress, gifted from Blair herself. Everyone knows an Eleanor original is a uniform of B's private army. But will J be a loyal follower or will she join S's rebel forces. And as for S herself, we hear she left today's brunch with no friends, no boy, and nowhere left to run. It looks like the ultimate insider has become a total outsider. It's your move Serena and you know who'll be watching. Gossip Girl.
(A/N: So here's episode 2 of Gossip Girl. Who else watched the pilot premiere of the reboot. I don't know about you guys, but I am liking the way this one's going. Stay tuned for the next chapter; Poison Ivy. TTFN, ta-ta for now!)