⇝
𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒊 : 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎
⇜
𝑵𝑰𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑨 𝑯𝑨𝑫 𝑨 𝑮𝑶𝑶𝑫 feeling about the rest of her day—everything had been sorted between her, Serena and Blair, so it could only get better from there, right?
Wrong.
Someone had sent in a tip to Gossip Girl, telling them all about how Blair was the one who the test was really for.
It looks like the Virgin Queen isn't as pure as she pretended to be. Who's your daddy, B? Baby daddy, that is. Two guys in one week? Talk about doing the nasty. Or should I just say, B-ing nasty.
Panicking, Nicola dashed outside of the school, desperate to find Blair to console her, yet she couldn't find the brunette anywhere—no matter how hard she looked. And Serena wasn't anywhere to be found either, making it much more difficult for Nicola.
As she exited the school, she ran up to her twin to see him talking to one of the St. Jude's boys, however came to a halt as Nate pushed past her. The Archibald grabbed tightly onto the collar of Chuck's shirt, pushing him against the boot of the limo, drawing everyone's attention.
"Did you sleep with her, huh?" Nate questioned, full of rage with what he'd just heard. When he received nothing but silence, Nate scoffed as he realised it was true. "You son of a bitch, I ought to kill you!"
"Look, can we talk about this without your hands around my neck?" The youngest Bass begged as Nate's hands found their way around Chuck's neck out of fury.
"Nate, just calm down." Nicola chimed in, not moving from where she stood—worried what would happen if she intervened.
Ignoring the girl, Nate shoved Chuck's head further against the limo. "Did you get what you wanted like you do with those other girls?"
Chuck had been holding back, knowing he deserved this for what he'd done to his best friend. He'd betrayed him, and couldn't imagine the hurt and pain Nate was going through.
Scoffing once again, Nate pushed himself off of Chuck roughly, not caring if it hurt the boy—right now, all he wanted to do was punch the Bass for what he did.
Realising there wasn't much else he could do, Chuck finally snapped. "Yes, Nathaniel! I took what Blair kept throwing at you and you kept throwing back!"
"So somehow you screwing Blair for sport is my fault?" Nate sneered back.
Just like everyone else in the street, Nicola couldn't help but watch it all play out. Her eyes kept darting from one to the other, waiting for something horrible to happen so that she could finally stop them.
"It wasn't for sport. She needed someone and I was there." Chuck justified, not helping his case at all.
"Oh, so you cared about her?" Nate asked, practically amused with the mere thought of it.
"You guys were broken up."
"Oh, for how long, a week? An hour?" The Archibald pressed, furious that this whole situation had even happened.
"I am sorry, alright, I know how long you and I have been best friends, okay?" Chuck followed after him, grabbing into his shoulder.
Nate span around, glaring at the Bass. "No, it's not okay, Chuck. From now on, you stay away from me."
"Nate." Chuck cried out, his voice breaking as he realised what he'd done wasn't as forgivable as he had hoped it would be.
"Did you hear what I said?" Nate shouted, done with his argument as he knew it would never fix what had already been done. "You stay the Hell away from me, Chuck!"
With that, he spun on his heels and stormed back into the school grounds, leaving behind an awkward silence. Nicola glanced back at her brother with a pointed look before following after the Archibald, running as fast as she could in her heels without tripping.
"Nate! Stop walking!" She yelled after him, fortunately he stopped and turned around to face her, yet, his glare was still set on his face. "Are you alright?"
"Did you know? And don't lie to me, just tell me the truth. I'm sick of the lies." He demanded.
Under his piercing gaze, she knew she couldn't lie. Her mouth opened but no words came out, the second Nicola admitted that she knew, their friendship was over. "Yes, I knew. I swear, I wanted to tell you, but—"
"How could you not tell me?!" Nate exclaimed, full of rage.
"I wanted to, I really did. It's just that Blair didn't want me to, and she's my friend." Nicola defended, bouncing her leg to help ease her nerves.
"And I'm not your friend?"
"You are, but Blair is like a sister to me."
"Oh, so she's more important than me or my feelings?" Nate wondered, growing more angrier with her by the second.
"Wha—no, of course not." She answered quickly, realising everything she said kept making the situation worse. "Please, just hear me out."
"No, and you can stay away from me as well. You Bass' are the cause of every problem, I don't know how I didn't realise that sooner." He spat, speaking her family name with such disgust.
As he walked away, Nicola stood feeling shattered in the courtyard of the school, tears falling down her cheeks. She had lost a good friend and it was all her fault, she could've prevented it, but she didn't. All because she wanted to protect Blair and her twin.
Oh don't look so sad, N. Just be grateful it wasn't your secret that came out.
✩
Inside the Archibald's townhouse was a distressed Nicola, her leg bounced up and down at a rapid speed as she waited for Nate to return to his home—she owed it to him to at least apologise. However, she wasn't sure he'd appreciate it like she hoped he would.
Anne Archibald had gladly allowed the young teen inside before she left her home, leaving Nicola to listen to the sound of her foot hitting the floor repeatedly—she was sure it was echoing with how quiet the townhouse was.
It was just her here.
"What are you doing here?" Her head whipped around at the sound of Nate's irritated voice questioning, glaring at the girl as she slowly stood up from her seat.
"I came to apologise," she answered, sniffling quietly as she tried her hardest not to rub at her most likely puffy eyes. "I needed to explain why I didn't tell you, though, when I actually thought about it, I didn't have a reason. I just. . .didn't."
Nate scoffed, "well, it's good to know where your loyalties lie."
"Please, just try and understand where I'm coming from. Chuck, he's my brother, no matter what you mean to me, he will always come first." Nicola began, explaining as best she could without breaking down again. "And Blair, well, she's like a sister to me. I'd do anything for her just to see her happy. But that doesn't mean I don't care about you either, because I do. Nate, I really care about you."
"Yeah, seemed that way when you kept it from me that my best friend was screwing my girlfriend." He retorted, rolling his eyes at Nicola's pathetic attempts to justify her actions. "I have never trusted anyone the way I trusted you. . .it's always been you that I've come to with any problems, I trusted you with the problems with my parents, the problems with Blair, I trusted you with my deepest, darkest secrets. And I expected you to do the same, clearly I was wrong. How am I suppose to ever trust you again if you can do this to me? How can I ever believe a word out of your lying mouth?!"
The words faded out as he spoke to her with such hatred, Nicola couldn't help but blank out as he lashed out. Whenever someone lashed out at her in any way, she fazed them out, her mind made it seem like she was the only one in the room. She couldn't even hear him as she stared blankly at him, she wasn't even sure she could see him. It was all just a blur of hatred directed at her.
Nicola opened her mouth to say something, but was at a complete loss for words. Tears threatened to spill as she struggled, while Nate just stared at her expectantly, still filled with hatred.
"I'm sorry." She choked out, worried for how this was going to play out. "I am, I really am, Nate. I don't know what to say or do to make this better, because I've ruined everything. I should have told you, I know that, I knew it the entire time. . .I just didn't want to accept it. Because I knew that meant I'd be choosing between the three people I love most, and so I acted like there wasn't a choice there, as there was no way I could actually make a choice. I made myself believe that telling you wasn't a option, and I hate myself for that."
For the next few moments, they stared at each other as they waited for someone to say something—but they were both so lost they couldn't speak. And without each other's help to bring them out of this loss, they were deadly silent. It was always Nicola to bring Nate out of the pain or struggle, and now he didn't have her to bring him out. And Nicola? She didn't know whether there was any point in speaking anymore—she was certain she'd lost him. She feared if she said anymore, she'd lose him forever.
"I want you to leave." Nate spoke up, gesturing to the door.
Nicola glanced between him and the door, he was the only thing standing in the way of her leaving—but he wasn't in the way at all, he was allowing her to leave.
"Please," she begged, knuckles turning white as they formed into fists. "We can fix this, we can fix anything. We're Nate and Nicki—the dream-team."
"We were. . .Nate and Nicki." He corrected. It was like a blade slicing directly through her heart as he spoke those words. "We can't fix this, we can't fix anything!"
"I don't believe that," Nicola denied, shaking her head as if it would make him believe her. "We have gotten through so much, why can't we get through this? I get that I didn't tell you this, but it wasn't even my place! Why is it that I had to have been the one to tell you? Why not Blair or Chuck? Or Serena? Why am I the one that had to say something? Anytime there's a problem, it's always, always me who has to fix it! Whenever you or anyone else need a friend, I'm there! But where were all of you when I needed someone? So don't get mad at me for something that has nothing to do with me! You wanna be mad at someone, be mad at Chuck and Blair—don't blame me for the pain that I didn't cause."
"I don't blame you for what they did, I don't blame you for anything." Nate assured her, rubbing his forehead tiredly as if it would make his growing headache disappear. "It's that you knew all along. While I was coming to you for advice about Blair, you were thinking, 'oh, if only he knew.'"
"I wasn't thinking that." She told him, huffing as she sat down. "If anything, I was probably thinking why were you coming to me when you could just get a couples therapist."
"I don't think you understand," Nate muttered as he sat down opposite from her. "What I'm mad at, is that you are probably the most important person in my life, I literally look at you and I smile because you bring me so much joy. . .but you can also bring me the most pain. And, I know, all you did was keep it a secret, I just hate that you kept it from me. I thought you'd want to tell me, I thought I meant as much to you as you do to me."
"Oh, Nate, I care about you, more than you know. I was just stuck in an dilemma, if I could go back—"
"Don't," Nate stopped her before she could say anymore, "if you really meant what I think you were about to say, then you wouldn't have done that in the first place."
He was right.
And she knew that.
That's why she simply nodded and stood up from her seat, standing there for a moment as she waited for him to hug her goodbye—only to realise she wasn't going to get the goodbye she needed. Nicola blinked away her tears and walked out of the house as quickly as she could, slamming open the door to her limo, clamouring inside. As the door slammed shut, Nicola began to sob uncontrollably. Tears stained her cheeks, nose, lips, chin, neck. Faded mascara stained her entire face with each sob.
She hated herself.
Why didn't she tell him?
Why didn't she persuade her brother or Blair to tell him?
Why did she always bring these situations upon herself?
✩
Chuck was sat in his suite by the mini-bar when he was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of his door opening and closing. His head turned to see Nicola storming towards him, furious.
"What's wrong?" He questioned, worried that someone had said something that had upset her.
"What's wrong?" She scoffed, grabbing his drink and taking a swig then slamming it down on the counter. "What's wrong is that you slept with Blair and made me keep it a secret, and now I have lost Nate because of it."
"Oh, so that's why you're here. Just apologise, he'll get over it." He told her, rolling his eyes at her dramatics.
"I tried! But he didn't want that, what he wanted was for his friend not to keep things from him." Nicola exclaimed angrily, irked that he didn't seem all that bothered. "Chuck! Do you even care that I've just lost my best friend? All because you couldn't help yourself. You had no right going for Blair, and yet you did it anyway. And now, I've lost Nate because of that. I lost him, and he isn't coming back."
Chuck glanced down at his drink, avoiding her stare as he knew she was right. He shouldn't have slept with Blair, but he did it anyway. He shouldn't have had Nicola keep it a secret, but he did so anyway. Chuck knew how much Nate meant to Nicola, they'd been friends for almost their entire lives, and he'd ruined that for them. He knew it was a long shot Nate would ever forgive her, but he planned to do everything he could to make sure he did.
"I'll fix it," he muttered under his breath.
"You'll fix it? No, what you'll do is make the whole thing worse. Just stay out of it, Chuck! I don't want to lose anyone else, from now on stay away from my friends. Got it?" Nicola begged him, never wanting to be in a situation like this again. "I've gotta go, just listen to what I've said. And don't try to fix this, promise me."
"I promise."
"Good, I'll see you later, I've got things to do."
✩
Everything had gone tits up for Blair Waldorf—everyone knew that she had slept with both Nate and Chuck, and what was worse? The girls at school had dethroned her, meaning she no longer felt welcome at Constance anymore, and her only solution was to move to France.
Nicola and Serena weren't going to let that happen.
The Bass was taken by surprise as the van der Woodsen had bursted into her suite, not giving her much information but to follow her. The girls quickly found a cab as Arthur was with Chuck, and the blonde explained to the brunette in the cab that Blair was planning on moving to live in France for a little while with her father and Roman.
As the cab came to an abrupt stop on the airstrip, both girls piled out of the vehicle and rushed towards the Waldorf, ready to climb into the Helicopter when Serena called out to her. "Blair!"
The brunette spun around on her heels, not impressed that they were both here. She knew that they were here to stop her, and knew she wouldn't be able to leave if they were here. They could easily get through to her. "What? You two want a lift to JFK?"
"Your mom said you were going to France tonight." Serena stated, ignoring her question.
"Yeah, she has a big mouth." Blair fumed.
"B, we're your best friends. She was shocked I didn't know." The blonde choked out, hurt that Blair didn't feel the need to tell either one of them that she intended on leaving Manhattan.
"Well, now you do."
"What we know is how you felt when Serena left without telling you. B, you were heartbroken, and so was I." Nicola sympathised, remembering just how upset Blair was at the time. She had comforted the girl all night long, not allowing herself to process how she even felt about it. "If you leave now, you'll be putting me through the exact same pain, again, as well as Serena. And you. . .you'll be even worse because you won't have us two to guide you through the hardships. As much as you hate to admit it, you need us, and we need you. So please, don't go. I'm begging you, Blair, I don't ask for much from you, but please do this for me."
Blair watched the girl fall to pieces—she hadn't even thought about how much this would wreck Nicola.
Serena nodded in agreement, taking ahold of the Bass' hand. "Don't let some stupid scandal make you run away like it did me. Like it does everyone in our world."
"Everything's horrible." She told them after a moment of silence. "My whole life has fallen apart."
"So rebuild it." Serena supported. "You're a Waldorf, remember? People don't tell you who you are, you tell them. Stay and fight. We'll fight with you."
"We'll be right by your side. . .every step of the way." Nicola added, a comforting smile taking over her features.
"I'm so embarrassed," Blair admitted, her lip trembling as tears pooled at her eyes. "I'm so—"
"So what? Start over. It can be done. I should know. We can get through this together." Serena suggested, all of them joining hands and squeezing them, offering their support.
"Promise?"
"Promise." Both Serena and Nicola answered in unison.
They pulled the Waldorf into their embraces, holding tightly onto her. They needed Blair to know they would do anything for her. Together, they could get through anything. Scandals, secrets, rumours, Gossip Girl, high school—all of it.
They were in this together.
Reluctantly giving in, Blair called out to the crew as they piled her things into the Helicopter. "Stop, guys! I'm going home."
"Yes!" Nicola squealed, jumping into the Waldorf's arms who exclaimed excitedly.
She was grateful for one thing, no matter what happened or how many bad days she suffered, she'd always have her girls.
༻♕༺
New chapter!
Ahh, I actually cried while writing the scene between Nate and Nicola, but oh well. Anyways, I literally love anytime I get to write a cute scene between my fav trio, I LIVE for them and their friendship.
Also I can't wait for season 3, it's going to be so fun to write, as well as season 2. The drama in season 2 is going to be the BEST, I have so many plans for it!!!
Hope you all enjoyed, don't forget to comment and vote<3