AN:/ So rarely do I see this crack pairing save for a few instances that have inspired this story but I wanted to play around with this idea. I felt that both Jenny and Carter two of my most favorite loving characters on the show got the short end of the stick. Not only did they have so much potential but they were also more fascintating and 3 dimensional than other characters that were brought in later in the series. Needless to say I wouldn't be here today if I owned the show Gossip Girl which I do not! Also to get a better understanding of what I feel Jenny now looks like Taylor Momsen did a photoshoot a while back and can be found at as such as where I found the icon of her for this story. In the photoshoot she isn't wearing a whole lot of makeup and going for a more natural look but still has a mature way about her. I think this is what she looks like at her most beautiful but you don't have too picture her that way. Anyways... Not sure if this is going to be a one-shot, two-shot, or full blown drabble story so review and let me know.

They never met formally, not even as acquaintances, just two people who knew the same group and passed by one another once or twice but perhaps if they had sooner it would have saved them a lot of trouble and heartache (him the trouble, her the heartache). In a way they were the ultimate goal. The power and passion of Chuck and Blair, an epic read romance very similar to Dan and Serena, Saint and Angel like Nate and Blair (though the roles were constantly switching), It couple items like Serena and Nate, the allies who are their own downfall congruent to Vanessa and Dan, destructive train wreck as Chuck and Serena, bringing out the best and worst as imitation to Dan and Blair, with the potential of what Lilly and Rufus could have been had there not been so much history... Though they too have history of their own. They don't even give a second glance at the people they once pined for before and if one of them does it's just to get under that person's skin and their partner in crime is always not to far away.

For him it was Serena. She was the unattainable and once he had her he couldn't keep her for more than a couple of months. He'd known what everyone had said. They all worshiped the ground she walked on but whispered behind Serena's back 'trainwreck'. Not to say that his girl wasn't her own masochist, back in her day (though he was never their to witness it he always got the posts, hey he was intrigued by the girl who seemed more destroyed than himself, and he'll always tease and hold that against her) but she was a different kind of 'off the rails'. This kind maybe he could hold onto.

The person she pined over was never a good match for her anyway. At least that's what they've told each other but they both know her love affair with Nate Archibald runs deeper than his with Serena ever could (it doesn't matter now anymore, for once they get what they want!). She doesn't try and compare them because in all honesty the differences are welcomed and she doesn't want to think about what they could possibly share (too much of a broken fantasy). When those thoughts do sneak into her mind, she does observe that both him and Nate have the same approach but different ways of handling it. It doesn't happen often and quite seriously the only reason she thought of Nate was in a passing off-put comment, by the guy she sees herself falling in love with now! Funny how that works out.

He couldn't get what he thought he deserved.

She couldn't find happiness.

No one really wanted the two most screwed up people that Gossip Girl had entangled with other's lives. It was a bittersweet ending every time GG wrote of their leaving but now that everything was done and over with maybe it was something that was meant to happen all along?

They really just didn't count on all the loose ends. To them it was a test. Whether to or on one another they couldn't tell, they just knew it was time to finish it.

It started in a bar in London...

XXX

It started in a bar in London. He's having a drink on this elusive Friday wondering what – or who he could do to wind down when he sees her. She's stunning and he knows he'd never forget a face like that because she's so familiar in the way she moves, throws her head back in laughter, and smiles but also a mystery, so he really needs to place her face in somewhere. He's seen her before he just wish he knew when and where and why didn't he capture her?

It started in London. She's been staying after most of her days trying to get things prepared for fashion week coming up this month but when her co-workers tell her that they all haven't been out in forever she quickly tells them that she's in and they're glad because she's the It Girl of this scene but she doesn't even know it. The instant they get close to the bar that's in the club she recognizes him. It's not hard to tell that she was once a subject of an exclusive society but she knows he won't expose her to the new life she now leads. If he recognizes her, she'll recognize him and he has just as much skeletons in the closest as she likes to keep locked away. Her friend sees her eying him. It's all down hill from there. Marcy, she thinks her name is, loves to pick up left overs but she's been there, she's done that. She only wants to protect Marcy, no matter how much everyone else may just barely tolerate the poor girl (it's a good thing she knows how to have fun or otherwise the others would probably not have invited her along when walking out of the building). So she tells Marcy that he's as crazy as a Mad Hatter, drunk with power like a witch, and is unstable as a war veteran with PTSD when the girl comments how sexy he looks. When Marcy smirks and asks if she personally knows him, her immediate answer is no but that she's grown up with his type, those with the cunning clever grin of a fox that pull you in and swallow you whole and will probably leave you to the vultures when he tires of you, so by the default she knows him. Basically she's already told Marcy it's a bad idea but the prideful (or spiteful depending on who you ask) thing that Marcy is, saunters up to him hopping to get some tonight. She'll give the girl five minutes.

It starts in London. He talks his way through the little brash thing that's not his type (if he's going to get a sharp tongued girl, she better have some wit and wisdom about her, other wise the chase is just boring). Pointing over to the brunette's friend and his newfound obsession, he notices how the girl is pretending not to watch them but rolls her eyes in annoyance at her horny friend's antics. Soon all of them take notice of the not so strange stranger and slowly start to drift over to where he's sitting. He's listening on about how the girl, Marcy is what one of her other friends called her, thinks she's hilarious but he plays along, albeit c ringingly so. She's watching them with her arms crossed and an amused look upon her face as she sees Marcy making a fool of herself, laughing a little to loudly and forcefully, and making her intentions quite obvious. It's sad and sweet at the same time because she remembers a time when she was in that position and now she can see why no one stopped her when it happened: it meant she was slowly finding her way, testing out how this game worked, and how she fit into all of it. In a way, it was more adorable than it was comical. She even found it sort of sweet, in a redeeming quality way, how he didn't call her out on it like most guys she knew, from their shared point of reference, would have. Sort of. That was the key word and had she thought as she used to, basing her first impression off a certain golden haired guy and his best friend she might have seen it as a game play. Now that she's not part of that life anymore and is trying to think in a new light. She's still on the defense though. He is from her neck of the woods.

"I've seen you before." He addresses her pointedly but oh so charmingly as he'd been taught to do from years of practice and prep schooling.

Marcy tries to insert herself into his line of sight yet again but he's only seeing her now, the girl with the unreadable expression, that would have any politician wanting her for their own master plan. "She's head of J by Waldorf, you've probably seen the commercials. We all work there."

He smiles but he's not looking at Marcy. He's throwing all of his entice into this one facial gesture hoping to break through to the girl's ever passive face. "No," He shakes his head trying to remember. "We've met before." He drawls.

She raises an eyebrow with a small up twitch of her lips. "Someone punched you at a Cotillion and I cleaned up the mess. Guess who and I'll give you a name." She propositioned.

His brows furrowed in a bit of a frown. Clearly their first encounter goes all the way back to the end of the beginning. How had he missed her? "Nate Archibald."

"And you're Carter Baizen," She told him. He's a little surprised by her obvious certainty, it shows she knew who he was from the moment she walked in. The blond girl went on. "And I'm Jenny Humphrey."

Instant dawning washed over Carter's face. For a moment, he was transported back to that night at the Cotillion, the punch still fresh in his mind but the after – the after was perplexing. It involves a sweet innocent girl trying to help someone pronounce a name on a card, fixing a ripped dress, and stepping in to hold an iced drink to his face while Serena went to have a showdown with CeCe and chase after this girl's brother. That however was a memory for another time. When Carter saw her with a look of curiosity, Jenny surprised herself with a tiny smile.

It began in London...

XXX

It's a game of cat and mouse from then on. Who's who might be a little confusing. Carter will be at the club always at the same spot, sometimes with his buddies, sometimes by himself. Jenny reciprocates with all of her coworkers. It goes on like this for some time. Them, watching the other and then by the end they have a fleeting moment of tension and desire to understand one another, by having chat. Jenny's never alone, when she comes to there place. It's not like she's hiding because if that were the case she could disappear altogether. No, Jenny is waiting. So is Carter. The first move always starts the game.

Carter watches her dance out of the corner of his eye and finds himself fascinated that she can move so languidly and effortlessly. Hips swaying side to side, eyes in a dream like state, it's no wonder why every person in this place only comes for her, only sees her. Carter imagines all the things that such a tight little body can do before the image in his mind is blocked by the girl from the daydream.

"You're not exactly subtle." She simpers, taking the seat next to him.

"Didn't know I was trying to be." He banters back, giving her body a through inspection with his eyes, not at all trying to hide it.

Jenny throws her head back in a fake cackle. "Wow." Shaking her head at his incorrigible advances, Jenny grinned. Never before has the boy chased her, it was always the other way around but then again, from what Jenny makes of him, Carter Baizen hasn't been a boy for a long time. "That really doesn't work, does it?"

His smirk widens with his charm. "Better believe it, Beautiful." It rolls off his tongue because it's part of his pattern but it feels wrong the moment he utters it. Beautiful, she is but regular game, she's not.

Jenny doesn't giggle at that little pet name, like she's sure that he's used to or tells him to 'Stop!', with all intentions of him to keep going. Instead, she moves her gaze to her arms on the bar counter and smiles somberly at how far she had get and the places she had to go in order to even be called a Beautiful.

One thing Carter has learned from his father, is that paying attention to women is the key to winning them over. Well, paying attention to the things that make them emotional, everything else is allowed to be ignored. Watching Little Miss Humphrey's reaction made a knot in his stomach. He had to murder whatever was the reason for this. "A martini for the lady." Carter calls out and can see the blond haired beauty glaring at him, from where she sat, but doesn't make a move to stop his antics. She thanks the bartender and turns her chair over, so that it's now facing him.

"You're a jerk." She smiles over the rim sneakily, just sipping her glass.

Carter is surprised, yet again, by her boldness in calling him out but rises to the occasion. "A bit brutal for someone who just bought you a drink, don't you think?"

Jenny shrugs setting down the gift in question smile ever present. "It's a fact. I'm just telling you how it is."

Now that's got Carter curious. "And how is it, Sweetheart?" That flows more easily than Beautiful and he's perplexed by it but maybe she was never meant to be a meaningless beauty.

"Your parents cut you off when you wanted to see the world but once you saw it you realized luxury was still something you couldn't live without. Blowing back into town, you ripped off Nate and Chuck. Deciding to go along with the politics of it all, you swindled your way into being Serena's date for the Cotillion. And we all know how well that went." She told him pointedly but Carter couldn't seem to find it in him to be mad, if anything he was more intrigued for her to keep going. "When you came back again, you had some debts to pay and were willing to own up to them but you broke Serena's heart in the process. The last time you decided to come and mess things up, it was to worm your way into her relationship by using her father as bait. You've done a lot of bad things Carter Baizen... but I've done worse." Gathering herself up and getting down from the high stool, Jenny came just close enough to look Carter dead in the eyes. One might have backed away but Carter liked to think that she didn't anticipate him welcoming her invading his personal space, and as a result she was uncomfortable. At least he could tell, by the way she bit the inside of her cheek. "But I bet, you can't remember a single thing about me other than Cotillion." Jenny waited for him to think of something on the spot.

"You're right." Carter nodded, not exactly happy for admitting defeat from a child but still throwing arrogance to his voice in order to give her the feeling of inferiority. "I can't." It doesn't work because Jenny hasn't the need to feel inferior and undermined since she left the US. The mystery of it made the air about Jenny Humphrey all the more appealing.

Jenny sighed deeply. "Goodbye, Carter." And left.

XXX

Jenny's torn between running for the hills because he's bad news, but Jenny Humphrey, former Queen of Constance and hand chosen by Blair Waldorf to be a legacy, doesn't run – at least not anymore, and giving into the magnetic pull of him because he saw her and she's more than a little curious.

They bump into one another at a charity event, at which they're both important but would rather be somewhere else. It's by pure coincidence that they end up standing next to themselves as the charity head makes his speech, thanking all who decided to give the function their grants. Carter's the one to notice her first, this time. "You don't think I remember." Carter stated lightly, so not to be heard by unwanted people. He didn't miss how she rolled her eyes at his introduction into this conversation or how she held a small tempting smile. "But I do. You were the little blond who ratted Serena and I out to Nate that one time."

He's baiting her reaction, but Jenny's not so inexperienced to not know how to handle herself. What she doesn't know is that Carter, for once, is not fishing for info, he's just reminding her that he was a little impressed at that little move she pulled off. "I was different." She nodded curtly, confirming his suspicions that she wasn't broken but not completely put back together from years of living the life that of high society, a life he's grown up to be used to by now.

The first time he saw her, she was a sweet little thing. Following his ex and his fling around like a puppy, as if she couldn't fathom how much of her own power she had. With her wide blue eyes, full of life, her smooth skinned baby face, round soft pink pouty lips, and her long blond hair all pact in her petite little body, that, just by taking her in, you could tell she wasn't confident in yet, she was the face of the girl-next-door image. The next time he passed her, it seemed that she had traded her innocent girl character for some make-up and a tiara. Much skinnier that time around, with a hardened face, and unhealthy pale skin, she handed her golden locks and bargain flats for a pair of stilettos and platinum blond hair. Oh and Blair's crown but hey everyone has a successor. Now, she looked better. Different. Long gone was the heavy make-up and pale skin, going for a more natural look and bringing back her bronze toned coloring. She had curves again, with an hourglass figure instead of stick thin proportions (but that tiny waist she had now was doing a number on him). Jenny looked good, like after years of being away from two of the most sought after girls in the world, Jenny Humphrey could give Blair Waldorf and Serena Van der Woodsen a run for their money.

Rustling from his own thought, Jenny went on. "Believe me, I don't plan on returning to the person I used to be." She promised. Carter couldn't tell whether it was his or hers to keep. So he asks for her to dine with him at a fancy restaurant later this evening.

She says no.

Taking the hit, Carter stops being nonchalant and swings his whole body around, instead of just his gaze, like he'd been doing, to ask her why not, with his never give up snarky attitude.

Slowly turning to stare at him, Jenny takes in his body language. It screams of trying to convince her to go with him. "On second thought," She tells him as a grin creeps onto her face. "I'll take you out for froyo." Carter Baizen has had crème brue le, the most mouth watering of chocolate icing to lick off girls' bodies, gilatto from his summer in Naples, Italy when he was nine, and has eaten delicacies with the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates in Dubai but Carter has never had froyo. And he knows that she knows that he's never had it. What the hell, she's challenging him and that's what makes this more interesting.

He says sure.

XXX

Froyo goes smoothly. Languidly walking down the pathway of London as they recount tales of their adolescence (though she's still so young, a good four years younger than himself, a child in retrospect to the eyes of the world not just for her age but her. The saying 'robbing the cradle' comes to mind but he pushes it back because no kid has a body like that and not use it for herself when she wants to) both not caring what the other might think of their past experiences. In retrospect they don't judge because each of them feel as like they've done something similar or far worse. It's easy. When that is all used up she tells him how she doesn't even know what she's doing in life right now and he responds that he doesn't either. Jenny grins at him with disbelief and shrugs off his retort with the shake of her head turning to the existential part of life.

"I used to want to be singer." Jenny admits with a flush (God, she hasn't done that since she was in high school, tripping over her words with Nate) creeping to the back of her neck.

Carter can top that. "I wanted to be a card dealer."

"I smuggled drugs."

"I gave kids drugs." He counters in a 'I-win-at-loosing' contest. "Ruining reputations to show people's true form? I've seen and done it all before."

Jenny rolls her eyes at that statement and they continue on in silence. Not awkward but comfortable. The blond girl is stalling and Carter knows it. Eventually one of them is going to have to mention at least one of the three elephants: their attraction, Serena, or Nate. Jenny goes for the first one. Playing the game that she watched two other girls play, Jenny slowly started to lick the spoon off her froyo clean with a sensuality she knew would drive him crazy. Carter hated her for it, he could see what she was doing from the corner of his eye and it was driving him nuts and he knew she was doing it on purpose. They hailed a cab to his place. It was the end of the beginning...

XXX

Moans and pants that had once filled the room, were now silenced with whispers into skin. The smacking, intimate, and rubbing movement of dilating and undulating hips and in sync rhythm of the mattress, had stopped to be met with sweaty, salty, and sweet skin and disheveled hair. Rolling over onto her taut stomach, Jenny waited for him to order her to leave. He got what he wanted, right? Carter surprised her in rolling over as well, so that his body was half sprawled on top of her. As he licked, whispered into, and trailed his nuzzling nose from her mid back to her shoulder. Jenny sighed in content.

Carter chuckled, closing his eyes and simpering into her neck before kissing it. "Feel good Jen?" Jenny, basking in the slow of his breathing that she could feel as his upper body lounged on top of hers, just nodded. She was too few for words, besides she liked the low rumble of his voice. Taking up the opening, he began to speak again. "Gotta say you wore me out too. Never had that happen." It's then that Jenny starts to laugh. After all with his enigmatic nature and the fact that she's limited herself to sleeping with all but three other people so far, Jenny finds the humor in his experience of him being worn out by her! He watches the blond girl laugh into the mattress before grabbing her by the sides and scooting them around so that now she was still laughing while he was on the mattress and her back part of her body laying on his chest. She continued joking at the thought (it really was ironic) and he had joined in before they calmed down and he just held her. Jenny took this time to observe that she wasn't able to see his face. It was at that time he thought was appropriate to clear the air.

"I had feelings for Serena." Carter told her so simply it was like he was admitting that his favorite color green. He noticed her stiffen just a bit but...

Silent for a beat, she tried to word the statement she was about to say correctly so that it was truthful. Jenny doesn't know when she began thinking that Carter Baizen was worth the truth but she thinks it was somewhere in between froyo and great sex. This is fast and Jenny has never been allowed to go fast because people make up a bunch of restrictions that they force upon her to follow, so she rebels with going fast. Given the option sure has its benefits, plus she thinks this speed just fits for her – or them. "I was in love with Nate."

He doesn't answer with an 'I know' even though every one who ever followed Gossip Girl knew. Carter thinks she needs more after all, it doesn't take a genius to figure out the difference between 'feelings' he had for Serena and 'love' she had (has, he can feel it in her caution) for Nate. So instead, Carter treats Jenny like a human being. Swinging her down on the bed again, he traps her between his arms with a face that says 'he accepts this challenge'. "We're going to fix that."

XXX

She enjoys learning his secret talents. For example, Carter Baizen could have been a card dealer like he wanted to. He's quite crafty at those games (and it scares her to think of what others he's good at playing at but if such things were to happen she'd play it right back), showing tricks and shuffling quick. Not little magic illusions that her Dad used to show her to make her laugh and that she'd always giggle back 'was so lame!' But the kind that he teaches her when she asks him to, as they sit in his kitchen on a rainy day. In watching this, Jenny learns that Carter's skilled in math.

"Once you turn it on, you can't turn it off." He smirks (she's come to enjoy those, they aren't like the condescending cocky ones of Chuck Bass, no, Carter Baizen's are full of arrogant confidence – there is a difference and she finds that she likes to send him some of her own) hands still shuffling the deck. It's not like Damian, Carter's not instructing her because he plans on making her use it in the future, he's showing her because she asked him to and she might find it useful. "So long as you don't get caught." Carter points at her, trying to display that he's heard about her track record with schemes. "And I might bail you out but I'll deny explaining it to you."

The others at work start to notice that she's happier. Not to say that her new life didn't make her happy, it's just that it's even better. They've fallen into a routine of watching Jenny give small smiles to her phone when she checks it on her lunch break and finding new inspirations for designs everyone loves. Rumor has it that there's a betting pool going around, that Jenny's either on something, been putting extra caffeine in her coffee, or is seeing someone. Jenny's favorite inter Samantha, (who reminds Jenny a lot of Nelly Yuki, before Jenny and Blair made the poor girl a monster so Jenny dotes on her) ends up winning $975 when Carter comes into the office for a suit.

It's a slip of the tongue really, but Carter accidentally kisses and maybe grabs some of her ass too, when one of the new security guards start checking her out as they leave for lunch. The head of the branch of course has to show that one cannot just assume that they can be ogled by just anyone. Her coworkers respect her, except maybe Marcy, who's more than a little peeved that she saw Carter first (not really but whatever), and Dan or Georgina are no longer active to take on being GG, so Jenny has no reason to believe that anyone will find out of this little thing going on between them. It's something she revels in. Privacy.

XXX

When seasons change they do other things besides cards, froyo, sex, and lunch dates. They go for strolls in the park.

Jenny learns that he calls her Sweetheart, Babe, Doll or Jenn but not Beautiful, like he's done so with so many other girls, because she's better. What Jenny doesn't tell him is that she appreciates Jenn because it's not Little J, Queen J, or even Little Humphrey! Some people had tried saying Jenn before but when Carter says it, it feels...nice. Like it fits, just because.

Carter lets her watch that 25 days marathon until Christmas comes because that's something she secretly looks forward to every year. She stays every single one of those days at his place and makes him watch it with her. He jokes and points out the flaw in every movie or makes a comment on how unrealistically those things such as happy endings are but secretly he finds her enthusiasm refreshing and bears through every night just so he can see her get all huffy and argue her point in her short length sweaters and silk pink underwear about why it's all in the spirit and etcetera, etcetera. Carter honestly only half listens because he enjoys her passion and the other half of his attention in making her angry all over again.

XXX

It's ironic, he thinks. Once upon a time, he had been the prince of a whole tri-state area. Back then, before, at the start of the S, B, C, N, D, V, and yes even a Little J, he and his friends ruled. Instead, it was all about Stella Warrenson, Briar Westchester, Carter Baizen, Nic Aundale, Darien Hapburn and Jocelyn Hapburn, and Vinly... whatever her last name was. Though the roles were reversed back then too. Carter was what Nate could have been and then some Chuck. The twins Darien and Jocelyn had a more striking resemblance to a mix of Blair and Nate. Briar faded into the dark, and even if her name was still whispered among many, once Serena took her place there was no going back but maybe that's what she'd always wanted to have in the first place. Nic held the constant battle of being the good friend to being the worst enemy, something that Dan and Chuck could never be but were the separate entities of Carter's forgotten friend. Finally sweet Stella, the girl who held all the signs and had done no wrong; Carter was there for the funeral, and the van der Bilt – Archibald family had yet to answer to all their deadly sins...

Oh how the times had changed.

When Carter watches Jenny slipping from one persona to another, he finds peace in the fact that she can be whoever she wants to be. It's just humorous that she became The It Girl overnight, without being hand picked or having to have someone step down. It was natural, in the way she moves. He'll listen to her when she drunkenly dials him, propositioning him (to which of course he tells her not to with a smirk, because he's not always a good guy and he'll have sex with her, if given the opportunity. Jenny was the new crisp breath. There was no such thing as Carter taking advantage, when it came to the subject of her; it was a given), and then later rambling on about how she sometimes hates how she didn't get the chance to be her, when it really mattered most.

He likes that she crinkles her nose not in disgust but in play when she's weighing her options. When they walk along in the park Carter lets out laughs at the fact that she can be so childish for some things, that it's refreshing. Watching her lips are interesting, just in the way that she does so many things with them: running her mouth with attitude (he'll roll his eyes and cockily leads her on with false justifications), biting her bottom lip because she's uncertain ('maybe she'll draw blood and then we'll see how snipping she is'), laughing with her teeth showing (in time, maybe he'll be worthy enough to laugh with her too), and feeling them because there is nothing better than finding the perfect fitting lips that do things he knows aren't all that innocent ('and let's not get started on her tongue!').

Jennifer Humphrey had him wrapped around her little pinky and he never had a chance.

XXX

In general cultures, when becoming more serious in ones relationship it is customary for introductions to be made to the significant other's parentals/guardians. Obviously, the same rules don't apply to those of high society... or those who may or may not have iffy credentials on whether they're time from banishment is up. Jenny personally works with the woman who all but threw her out of town, so she's allowed to come and go as she pleases again and Carter somehow makes it a habit of having plane tickets bought for him, without his consent, every time he makes an unwelcome surprise visit. Still the matter remains: meeting the family.

Her household is out of the question. Aside from the numerous and somewhat incestuous ties that her friends and family all have with one another, one thing is certain. A visit with Carter by her side would throw the whole Upper East Side into chaos and could quite possibly start the beginning of WWIII! In fact, Jenny is sure that the only people that wouldn't bat an eye at Carter would be Erik, Lily, and her dad and even that is a bit of a stretch. However, Jenny comes to find out that while her family isn't even a question Carter's is...questionable?

It seeps into her slowly. While she can't go two weeks without mentioning something lame and funny her dad did or 'this one time in Brooklyn with Dan', he never follows up with an instance of his own. This perplexes Jenny to no end and even if her hunch about him still being sore about being pushed out and making Carter pave his way on his own, she weighs that can't be the whole reason why the man doesn't talk about them. So while she's at work she may do a little snooping. Googling his last name bring up a whole lot of (some peculiar but within the realm of high society gossip) articles that tell of his family. None that speak of all of them together though. This eats her up inside because honestly she has as much right to meet his family as much as he wants to stay away from hers. Jenny brings it up once or twice but then Carter becomes cold and gruff refusing to say anything on the subject matter or uses his powers of persuasion to bring the conversation to a different subject, making Jenny forget about it all until much later in the day.

Finally one evening she's had enough. "What's your damage!?" she nearly yells after trying and failing yet again for him to open up about his family. "I get it. Your family has issues but I would hope that you'd at least give me a little bit of hint as to why I should back off!"

Carter's icy cynical chuckles emit from his throat as he stares at her with one of his seven deadly smiles. This one is filled with unresolved hate but it's still not the smile that makes Jenny shiver with fear, although she knows that he's still hiding that one in the back of his psyche to share with her one day.

Carter explains. "Neither of my parents wanted anything to do with me. I'm a mistake as I've been told many a time. They were focused on their careers and would have gladly made me disappear had my grandmother not been avid in her religion. From what I understand, I could very well not have been a Baizen, had my striking resemblance to my father not pulled threw. My mother was a whore and my father a snake. Family alikeness starting to take shape yet?" He sent her a smirk as Jenny sat in silence not sure how to react to this all so far. "They were hardly ever home, but then again, neither was I. Once for a whole year when I turned five, they shipped me off to their summer estate in the Hamptons where the staff could look after me. You know, kind of like a mantle piece that they didn't want to have to keep polishing." Stabbing his food with his fork, Carter gaged her reaction but still held his murderous grin. "I only ever saw them when they got back from wherever they went all the time only to have them leave again the next second. It was the nannies, butlers, housemaids and doormen that took care of me, Jen, and we went threw so many of those people I couldn't tell you where their last known location is, to have you meet them." Jenny watched him with anticipation but didn't back down from her equally hardened stare. "If you want to meet my parents, I hear they're flying into London this month, for some event. You can get your satisfaction then."

So that's exactly what they do.

Carter's whole body screams of disagreement, from his clenched jaw and hands stuffed deeply in his pants pockets. Jenny's expecting this big showdown that Carter had built up with his rage from years of neglect and privileged temper tantrums. What surprises her is how civil the Baizen's are to their own kind. Not to mention, the likeliness of their handsome offspring.

Eriol Baizen is the spitting image of Carter ('or is it the other way around?') with some details traded in from the mother. The same dirty blond, almost brown, hair with some silver starting to pepper in at the sideburns of the older man. Those deep caverned but wide eyed mirrors to the soul, that splice through to detect any farce a person tried to hold to them. How they carried themselves with dignity but also pride ('and a lot of it!') saying that they have conquered lands far beyond anyone's normal comfort zone. Both Carter and Eriol held a trademark that must have been passed down from generation to generation in their distinctive dimpled chin. In simple terms Eriol Bazien was a man all his own but Carter would one day grow into being him and time would age her boyfriend well.

While Eriol Baizen aged well, the same could be debated when discussing the subject of his wife, Meridian 'Mimi' Baizen, once Cordeline. Jenny was astounded that the woman before didn't coincide with the passage of time because she didn't appear a day passed 30! Internally, Jenny was arguing with herself on whether it could be chalked up from her copious amounts of money, ergo a great plastic surgeon, or the hard truth that she was just naturally that beautiful (that would explain a lot when it came to Carter's mindset on pretty women and why he calls them that). Donning a dress ironically designed by Jenny herself before it was shipped off to the buyer and long red hair flowing down her back it could easily be said that Mimi Baizen stunned anyone she came in contact with.

"Carter dear, your father and I are ever so enthralled that you could greet us at the gates of London." Mimi charmed with an equally elusive voice that Carter had been instilled with.

"Son I must say, I am even more spell bound in acknowledging this magnificent woman hanging off your arm." Eriol went on to say gesturing at Jenny who had yet to fall out of her trance yet. "May we have a name, Beautiful?"

"Mother, Father, this is Jennifer Tallulah Humphrey, of J by Waldorf." Carter introduced with no hint of tenseness gracing his voice. "I'm sure you've had the pleasure of hearing about her."

Both nodded and grinned like two pirates striking gold.

"Yes."

"Quite."

And the rest of the evening would go on. Having been treated to dinner before by Carter, she almost choked when his parents did the same. Suddenly, the conversations at the table were not of good natured light jabs to the other occupants but of seriousness and passive aggressive speeches. Jenny only chose to observe for the first hour, to get a sense of how this whole thing was going to play out. Occasionally throwing in her two cents worth or speaking when spoken to directly. It was in that small time frame that she noticed some things that Carter may not be to proud of picking up from his parents but was obviously perfected by him.

For instance, Carter held Mimi's smirk with the same quirk of her lips and the way it was attached to every instance to which she was unknowingly by others, triumphant. Where as Eriol's pout could be placed on Carter's face and know one would be the wiser. The rise and fall of political gain was rolling off Eriol's tongue with certainty as he debated his son and the snarky conceited attitude that Carter spoke with was a mirror image of his mother's.

When Jenny finally got a feel for this family, she jumped right in and engaged, creating more laughs and eased minds at the table. She did miss the way Carter gazed at her but it wouldn't be the last time.

Once everyone took their separate ways, Carter and Jenny trekked down the street to Carter's apartment laughing at some joke Jenny had told at the table that Carter was now making fun of.

"You know, they're not all that bad." She states as the laughter dies down and Carter becomes silent in trying to find a response.

He shrugged with a roll of his eyes. "They like to put on a show. You were just the lucky victim that they could impress." Jenny just hummed with a small knowing smile gracing her lips.

"They love you." She stated looking ahead into the fall night. "And you love them. Even if neither of you are willing to admit it."

"They don't like me." Carter pointed out the flaw in her logic.

Jenny shrugged it off. "They don't have too, they may even hate you but unconditionally they love you. Your father enjoys the challenge of someone to argue with and your mother's proud of how easily you can doge and weave the conversation to your liking in order to get what you want. It reminds them of who they are."

Carter raised an eyebrow at the blond. "And they're still willing to hate those parts of themselves?"

Jenny sighed. "Everyone hates a portion of themselves, even the best parts. Since you display it with ease and confidence because that's who you are well it's kind of a slap in the face for them."

The silence was calming until they got to the complex. "They can always hate me then."

Jenny wouldn't have it any other way.

XXX

Their fights ricochet off the walls. He gets jealous and possessive, becoming his snobby self and often drops back into an unyielding prick, but all within good reason and she loves to ride the defense and going withdrawn, slipping into bitch mode, threatening that she could screw up his life if she really needed to, but they are both stubborn, never liking to admit that they are in the wrong, take small comfort to throwing things, and wound one another with angry sex and cruel words because they're main goal is to make the other one suffer. Jenny's acidic voice scathes with phrases like:

"You honestly think people see you worth something?!"

"How can anyone put trust in a Bass – Archibald knockoff!?"

"A trust – fund brat who's parents cut him off because he was a wanderer and he only came back to con people?! Do you know how pathetic that sounds?!"

"No wonder Serena couldn't commit! The canary and the fox! You just love to ruin me!"

And Carter retaliates all the same with blows just as hard:

"Me?! You come from a family of liars! Your Mom lied about her new boyfriend, Dad lied about his other kid, and brother lied about waving all you dirty laundry to dry!"

"You don't think I don't see what you are, Jennifer Humphrey?! You're just as bad as everyone in that hell of a city! Probably a shit load worse!"

"I can only imagine why Nate took pity on you, the little Brooklyn girl who defies Blair and understands him! Please! He was bored with you the moment he got your attention and realized he didn't want it!"

"And lets not forget! Your parents didn't want you either!"

Usually when they're done, one of them demands that they talk about it because that's how she was brought up and his coined phrase is that 'you can't run from this forever'. They immediately fall for their own regret, when they see the marks they've left on the other, in a moment of hurt. She sees the red of the slap mark she smacked across his face with the nail scrapes racked into his abdomen and shoulders, he sees the bruises already starting to form on her hips and legs, along with the pain he caused from slamming his body against hers, so that she hits the surface with just as much force as he's putting in.

Carter holds her, shaking, and strokes her hair while Jenny silently weeps, keeping a firm grip on him, both do it so that they'll feel if either tries to disappear in the morning. They never do.

XXX

After about two years they decide to get a place together. Half a year into that they forget who they were (not that they were ever really focusing on that anyway) and enjoy who they are. The two former elites never say it but they're a couple. Carter Baizen is boyfriend to and dating Jenny Humphrey while she chooses to do the same as Carter Baizen's girlfriend. They loath saying it out loud and normally don't need to unless addressing strangers. Even then, they are so comfortable in what they've become, that it's all self-explanatory. No longer do there fights revolve around their past deeds or mutual acquaintances but why he just can't simply see her side of things or why should she think that he's only in this relationship for her. A certain high school crush is the farthest from their minds and they've developed their own set of friends.

One night they're out to dinner with his business partners and associates, when somebody somewhere asks how they met.

"Which time?" Jenny will hold back her amusement very poorly and Carter will go on to explain to the confused faces.

"I got punched in the face trying to get with her boss and sister." Carter pretends to be sheepish but Jenny has been with him long enough to run into his conquests as her new customers. It's entertaining to see some of those girls get flustered or them try and lure him back into their bed. Honestly, both Carter and Jenny like to make a mess of things and see how far they can push back those girls buttons just for kicks.

His colleges send Jenny appreciative looks and say stuff like 'good girl' and 'way to keep him in line' before he laughs at the irony. "Actually, I didn't do it," Jenny explains with a playful pout. "But I'm sure if he was being his smart-alec self, it was believably well deserved." She turns her smirk to him which he sends right back, saying that 'she'll probably pay for that tonight' but she just rolls her eyes.

"Yeah well, we actually didn't know each other back then." He tells the table with a somber smile.

One of his more rowdy businessmen chortles. "How could you not notice this fine woman?!"

Carter shrugged. "Oh I noticed her, I just didn't take the time to see her and us back then?" He scoffed at his own antics. "I wouldn't give her second thought. Probably should have," He told them charmingly, raising his wine glass with the rest of the table. "Would have saved me a lot of trouble!" Carter drank seeing the small sad expression next to him before she hid it with a fake mask.

Later that night when they're the last ones at the table, Jenny storms out of the restaurant and begins walking down the street, before Carter throws his money down and goes to follow her. "Hey!" He calls after the long blond haired girl but she's clearly ignoring her. "Hey!" Carter frustratingly turns her around, meeting with the rosy faced cheeks and startling blue eyes that make her seem like a winter time goddess against the snow. She's avoiding his gaze and Carter can see that she's evidently mad about something. "What's the matter with you?" He inquires with concern.

"Nothing." She tells him with a tired sigh and voice averting her eyes to the ground then over his head. "Listen can we just – can we just walk home?"

Carter studies her. In the beginning he might have just let the moment drop but he's got first hand experience of what happens when Jennifer Humphrey lets a storm brew inside her. "No. We're going to stand in the street until you tell me what's wrong."

Her eyes went ablaze. "I'm sorry, I'm not one of your little business buddies that you can just order around like some kind of dog!"

Carter scoffed. "Oh and I was the only one in there giving the orders? You had them eating out of the palm of your hand, Sweetheart!"

Tears started to build up in her eyes as snow fell around them but still Jenny refused to look at him, taking a couple steps backwards toward the direction she was originally going in. "Let's go, apparently this issue isn't going to be solved anytime soon so why don't we just-"

That's what made Carter groan with anger. "No, tell me! Show me what's bothering you!"

"How can I?!" Jenny screeched, tears now bursting, falling down her face easily. "How can I, huh?" She repeated with more control over her voice, quickly wiping away the first set of tears before more fell down the trail staining her cheeks. She sniffed, hating feeling like this in front of anyone, especially him. "You want to know what's wrong with me?" Jenny asked, taking one step toward him again. "I'm worried that you didn't take the time notice because we're not right for each other. I mean, even now, you don't share some of you past with me!" He's about to respond but she cuts him off. "And don't say you're not holding back! I'm the one who should be holding back but I've been nothing but open and you can't even share with what you share with Serena!" She told him fighting back her little sobs in her throat.

"That's what this is about!?" Carter was stunned and sounded incredulous for her reasoning. Closing the gap between them so that he could place his hands on her upper arms, Carter made Jenny stare into his eyes. "Weren't you listening to anything I was saying back there Jenn!?" She searched his gaze before he lowered his voice. "I did notice you Jenn, I just didn't see you." She still didn't look convinced. Sighing, he went further. "Would I have found you enticing? Yes. Do you think I would've kept you for very long? No. I was a bad guy, Babe." He told her trying to convince her that there wasn't some cosmic force trying to drive them apart or that her doubts should mean they should stop trying. "I did stuff, in Santorini," He sighed trying to let it flow out. "There were cops and government officials involved for things that I did...things that weren't very legal...anywhere in the world. I've lied and cheated and torn apart lives, so excuse me if I didn't think it a good idea." Carter was not taking his eyes off her. "I was afraid that if I told you it might lead to some sort of reaction, like this. I only let Serena know because she was there and because she is just as screwed up as I am, surely more."

"So what?" Jenny's voice broke with fear. "I'm too good for you?"

"Yes!" Carter exclaimed. "You're always going to be too good for anyone Jenny." He told her soothingly hoping this wasn't the end of something he enjoyed. "You and I, we're the ones to get left but the people that leave us don't deserve us. Never forget that Jenn." Jenny nodded her head wiping away the tears with a sad smile. He needed to tell her it was just hard. Yes she was too good for him and he knew that but he was too selfish of a person to let someone else take her. Carter was also too bad of a person to let her go on with him. That's why he hadn't told her yet. What he didn't know is that Jenny knew that's the reason all along. Carter became serious. "I...I lo-"

"I love you!" Jenny rushed out before him, amazed. She shouldn't have to say it first. Everything in her past, points to him saying it first but everything in his past says that telling it to her would be hard...because he's protecting her. "I love you." Jenny Humphrey whispered with more confidence this time.

Stunned, he whispered back the only thing that seemed right. "I love you too." Jenny let out a nervous giggle which turned into a smile and then she met his lips softly with hers. It was the end of the middle.

XXX

It's by pure accident when Erik takes a surprise visit for the spring to London, only to find his best friend in the most compromising of situations. To Erik, it's been too long since he's seen his confidant in person and feels like a much needed detox in a city that's not his own will do him some good. The youngest van der Woodsen did not expect this.

It starts with him popping in at her work, everyone is swiftly doing their job and when he asks the front desk woman where he can find Jenny Humphrey 'I'm kind of like her brother.' he'll state to the receptionist and she'll let him on through because he's not only friends with The Jenny Humphrey, It Girl of London, but also because he's Erik van der Woodsen and that last name can get him the world if he ever uses it, which he hardly does. Everyone else in the department is on break so the place is completely deserted but if Erik knows Jenny then he knows that she'll be in her office diligently working overtime on her next piece. So he walks into her big fancy office only to find that she is in fact working hard, just not on any piece of fabric and is certainly getting paid for that overtime. With her high slit cream maxi skirt cascading around her hips as she holds up her partner in sin's pants from behind, the front pulled down and open to meet her full on with his thrusts and grunts. Jenny's arm is latched onto the mysterious man's shirt covered back while her chin rests on his shoulder, eyes closed palpitating whining breathes and sighs of pleasure. They're at the end, Erik can only tell because Jenny's mysterious boy toy gives one final grunt while Jenny utters a relief. "Carter-"

Erik promptly closes the door with red stained cheeks and sits down to the side of the door way. He can't hear anything through the wall but when Jenny and Carter burst out, clothes in their proper place and flushed faces, Jenny's own blush deepens when she comes face to face with a sickly looking van der Woodsen.

"Erik!" Jenny exclaims with disbelief while Carter rolls his eyes in annoyance and sighs. Some one had a long explanation ahead of them.

Later, when everyone is all settled down and not hot and bothered, they're all found sitting at a round table at a little cafe across from the company. Even if Erik had always found sanction in the little remote whole in the wall places that Jenny could pull from thin air, he was having a hard enough time concentrating with Carter Baizen sitting across from. It was almost appalling to be so outright with his stare towards the older man but Erik couldn't help the ingression. Like his mother trading in her emeralds for sapphires, Carter had tried on one sister only to replace his need for another...or so Erik initially thought. Watching the two interact, it was clear to see that Jenny hadn't ever been able to hold the attention of someone in love because she was never the one to be loved over. It was new to her and because of it she was still the naïve Jenny Humphrey from Brooklyn that Erik was so fond of keeping. That part of her has kept the young van der Woodsen grounded in this hectic game of politics and power. But watching her laugh – a true laugh, the kind Erik had only ever heard in the early days since before that first sleepover at Blair's, that was truly powerful. Maybe Erik could find it in himself to gloss over Serena's obvious misconception of the restored Baizen heir and give him a chance. For Jenny's sake.

Carter doesn't vocalize it for the remainder of time that Erik stays with them but he's sure that it's over between him and Jenny. The open stares that the familiar young man gives him is all too daunting but Carter hides it with a mask that could only be described as arrogant suave and puts on a brave face. This Baizen is no fool, he can see the wheels turning in Erik's head, the way he scrutinizes every move that Carter makes and how he responds to Jenny. Well Carter doesn't play by anyone else's rules but his own and Erik should know that! He's not going to show the alarm that goes off when Jenny and Erik schedule a day just for them or how Carter knows that Erik will try and convince Jenny otherwise to stay with him. He loves her and has hope that she's slowly growing deeper in love with him too but if she wants to leave he's not going to let her go so easily, no matter what the van der Woodsen might pull. So for now while he still has her love, he'll cherish every moment and treat it as if nothing is bothering him and that everything is the same and soon they'll be shut in their room again doing some very not so sinless things.

On the day out, Jenny wakes from her position in hers and Carter's bed, only to find her guy still asleep holding onto her for dear life. Untangling herself to hop in the shower, she gives him one last glance and gets ready to leave for the day. After effortlessly becoming a walking model, she and Erik take off to stroll around London with every intention of doing what needs to be done. They avoid the subject matter like the plague. Both of them knowing that, in a single instance, one wrong word could break either a friendship or a relationship, so they don't address it. Laughing along blissfully, and reminiscing about how they needed this Jenny's surprised by the end that Erik and her slow their walk to breech the elephant in the room.

"You're good for each other." Erik will say and Jenny just hums and smiles sheepishly, agreeing with that statement as if it was common knowledge. Jenny will further ask him if Erik can bear the fact that she's not ashamed in her choice, to which Erik will explain that he's only ever seen Carter Baizen as the guy who screwed over his sister Serena but now he's open to seeing Carter Baizen keeping his best friend Jenny. It's a comfortable silence and they both understand that everything and everyone changes whether for better or good is all dependent on who's watching and that it's just a matter of time. Erik will bid her a farewell (he has to make his flight back) and she'll just walk slowly by herself to home.

Getting there she finds Carter making food ('Really Jenn, who taught you how to cook and did they realize that we need live after taking the first bite?') she doesn't know what it is but it smells heavenly. Shedding her coat, she'll walk over to Carter and chat idly about her outing with Erik and Carter will just nod his head along at the right times, trying to convey a persona of confidence and not of relief. He's an idiot if he didn't think that she'd know how much this visit has stressed him out but the beauty of it is that Jenny doesn't need to hold it over his head...yet, she'll just revel in how well he's handling it and that she hasn't a clue. They eat, have sex (by God! Three straight days with Erik in the other room would have been the death of Carter if Jenny hadn't already made a promise to him of this moment), and go back to normal or as normal as they get.

When they're done, Jenny reminds Carter that if they were to visit New York then they'd have more than just a well meaning best friend to deal with. Carter answers back with his, too damned to care about the consequences, attitude that it's a good thing that they don't have a reason to go back. Jenny just smiles warmly at him and listens to the breathing of his chest as he lulls himself into a slumber. Maybe it's best to tell him about the little + sign she got tomorrow.