Okay, so this whole story started cause I had a really weird dream where I was Nate and then Chuck was mad at me because I (Nate) had joined the army and it was all just really confusing, haha. But anyway, here you go: Chapter 1! And just so you know, this is set like… Late season 4 or something, I don't know (after season 3 at least) PS: FORGET ABOUT CRAZY PREGNANT GEORGINA, SHE DOESN'T EXCIST. Haha.
Eric was blushing and Elliot was smiling, because Serena and Blair had just pointed out how cute they were together. Chuck was talking rapidly to Lily about some new budget changes at the hotel and congratulating her on the successful charity event she was holding (which they were now at). And Rufus, Dan and Vanessa was just nodding and joining the conversation whenever they found it necessary.
Nate on the other hand had just been standing there like an idiot for about ten minutes, no one had really noticed. Whenever he wasn't dating Serena or Blair or…Whatever, or Chuck wasn't having one of his "I'm gonna lose my best friend" phases, Nate felt kind of left out from the group, everything had been simpler with them before, but also… So much harder. His road down memory lane was interrupted when he heard:
"Don't be so overdramatic, I'm fine" Chuck said as everyone was suddenly standing in a ring around him.
"You've been shot, Chuck" Blair pointed out and Chuck rolled his eyes. It had been almost a year since the accident, but it was the most dramatic thing that had ever happened to any of them and it scared them sometimes that they could have lost him. So now they were fussing over him every time he sneezed.
"Really, I didn't notice" Chuck said.
"Don't be sarcastic Charles; she's only worried for you" Lily said.
"You're all hovering over me, all the time, it's driving me crazy"
"If it helps, I don't really care what happens to you" Dan said.
"Dan…" Serena all but whined.
"Okay, Chuck's fine, we're all fine, let's just enjoy the rest of the party okay?" Rufus said.
"I've enlisted" Damn, why had he just said that? Nate suddenly felt all eyes on him and he was glad Jenny wasn't there too; suddenly he missed not getting noticed.
"What?" Serena asked.
"I've enlisted" he said again.
"Like, to the army?" Blair asked.
"Yeah, or the navy, they have nicer uniforms" He tried to lighten the mood, but it didn't work.
"Hey, that's what that guy said on that movie we saw" Elliot said and nudged Eric in the side.
"Oh yeah, 'flags of our fathers'" Eric answered "It was pretty good, Clint Eastwood directed it"
"Yeah, I watched it too" Nate said, trying to join the conversations of those who didn't look like they were going to try to kill him.
"So you watched a pretty good war movie and thought, 'hey, I want to enlist and take the chance of getting shipped off overseas into war and get myself blown up'?"
It was the first thing Chuck had said to him after he had told them the news. This wasn't going to well.
"No Chuck, off course not, I have been thinking about this for a while and…"
"And what?" Blair asked "I'm sorry Nate, but Chuck's right"
"Let just give Nate some space and let him explain this okay?" Rufus said.
Nate sent him a thank you look and took a deep breath, trying to explain, but without telling the whole truth. He told them that he had already told his parents and his very unhappy grandfather. He also told them that he had talked to a recruiter, handed in his application, taken his physical and his pre-enlistment interview. And now he was praying that his friends weren't going to kill him.