A/N: This was too long for a one-shot so uploading it in two parts.


Serena woke from her sleepy haze as her eyes batted open where the scorching sunlight fired at her eyes. She felt warmth under her right palm as she let her fingers search the surface to distinguish what was below it. It felt like the warm skin of a man's chest. Her eyes creased in confusion, totally unaware of who was lying next to her. She shifted in her spot and turned to settle the mystery of who was next to her. Her eyes gawked open in the sight. No. It wasn't. They hadn't. Her hand quickly jumped from his chest to her lips where it curved into a crinkled shape over her agape mouth. When did they? Her wide eyes explored his body or his naked body should she say. The tangled white sheet covered his lower half but she could see the rest of him. The slight shapes in his arms defining his muscles and the dark hair that had covered upper chest; she wasn't used to seeing him with chest hair. He was too young for that before. They were so young. But not anymore, now they were tangled in the lies of the acts of last night. Adults facing the consequences of their lustful actions. Looks like they were still the two kids they used to be, 'following their hearts'. Not that it was their hearts that led them here. Well maybe Serena's, definitely not Dan's.

He was still sleeping, beautifully. He had no idea what had happened. His mind had been removed from the guilt and the distain from the memory of last night. She wanted to wake him but he looked so peaceful; she didn't want to disturb him from the unaware state he was in. So she decided to continue following the lines of his body with her eyes for a while. She hadn't seen it in so long and she missed watching him sleep. Her eyes continued to skim his body watching the rise and fall of his lightly tanned chest.

Serena's eyes were lying on his; watching his eyelids contort and waver in his sleep. His right eyelid flickered, quickly followed by the other as they swung open. She gulped; she didn't want him to see her watching him sleep. His chocolatey brown eyes landed on hers, still hazed and half shut. She could see his mind working, trying to make sense of the sight in front of him as he blinked the image into focus.

Her breasts concealed by the thin white sheet they shared. Half draped over his body, half hers. His eyes searched her face, landing on those knowing eyes that had so often spoken words of love to him. He rose from his uncomfortable position on the bed so he was sitting by her side. Her long legs curled under her body with her hands wrapped tightly around the top of the sheet.

"Wha- umm…" He was confused as he stuttered on his words. She smiled a comforting, almost sympathetic smile. Sorry for what she had to tell him. As if he hadn't already guessed.

"We umm...we...last night. I don't remember what happened or uhh why, or how…I don't remember anything." Serena spoke slowly as her eyes searched the sheets; following the lines they had made over the bends in his body and the fall of his legs.

Dan attempted to gulp back the guilt as he eyes remained focused on hers.

"I'm sorry, Dan", her words were soft, kind. No matter what had happened between them that year she had always been there for him. He smiled shyly, he didn't deserve her.

"It's not your fault."

They sat in silence for what seemed like years; in reality maybe only a couple of minutes. He fell back onto the bed; lying on his back. She followed him; resting her body on her side with the back of her hand supporting her head on the pillow as she watched him. Her eyes following his face as she watched the cogs in his mind move around; trying to fully comprehend what had happened last night. Trying to grasp and scratch at the last distorted, faint memories of the previous night. Trying to piece it all together.

She watched his face twisting and turning, his eyes crease together in confusion. Serena's gaze never broke from his face. The face she once loved. Still loved. She thought after having told him she loved him she would have been able to move on. But she hadn't. She was still in love with him; he had stolen her heart from the very beginning. Gripping at every surface it had, totally consumed with him. It was as thought her heart had 'Dan' written all over it with a permanent marker. Impossible to erase.

Serena absorbed the fine lines on his face; the shape of his eyes and the distinctions on his nose and lips. She loved his lips. Always had. He was always such a good kisser. Often he would wrap his tongue around hers for a moment as his firm hands gripped on her neck; followed by a goodbye. He had always left her wanting more.

Memories of the previous night started to scratch at her mind as she explored his face. They appeared in flickers and flashes. Glimpses of his hands roaming up and down her smooth legs as she arched her head back in ecstasy. And then it was gone.

She wondered what he was thinking about, they had been lying down for at least 10 minutes and neither had spoken a word. He pounded inside her as her legs wrapped around his muscled back. She gulped. Serena's eyes had fallen much lower than his face now and if she looked closely she could see him through the sheets. She stared; eyes wide on him. Stop it, Serena. She jolted her eyes back to look at his face. A place which was less likely to turn her on; not that she wasn't already. She needed to leave, get out of this bed they shared. Their warm naked bodies hiding under the white blanket. But she couldn't leave; every ounce of her being gripped her to the sheets. She was frozen there. A certain part of her body hoping for more.

She sighed a little; spilling a slight moan into her sound. He looked at her. It was the first time he had moved in a while. His eyes landing on hers. Although hers were far from his; in fact they were drooped downwards; delved in her own body. Her eyes flickered following the strong lines that defined the outline of her figure under the sheet. Dan's eyes trailed downwards; following her eyes' movements on her body. He couldn't see anything; everything hidden from view but just knowing she was completely naked under there, with him was enough to make him harden.

Serena's lips rubbed together slowly as she noticed her trick was working; his eyes still plastered on her body. She stretched out her arm as she rolled her body so she was lying on top of him. His eyes gaped open; the feel of her body on his was incredible. It was as though a lightning bolt has struck between them; their bodies feeling like hot fire. All he wanted to do was grip his hands around her waist and thrust himself into her. But the thin sheet was standing in between their hot skin; preventing it from touching. Not that that was the only thing standing in the way of them locking together as one; luckily he still had some restraint left and urged himself to follow his head; not lower down.

She ceased to pay any attention to him; his gawking eyes on her body. Acting as if she had no clue he was watching her as her arm reached out at her phone on the bedside table next to him. She pulled herself off his body and spun back to her side of the bed where she lay on her back with her phone gripped in both hands. He had turned his head so he was almost on his side. His broad eyes trailed her body; as they rose from her slim legs they landed on the top of the sheet where it met her skin at the top of her chest. The blanket had fallen slightly from its position on her figure before. Only a few centimetres of the material stood between his eyes and her breasts. He licked his lips at the thought.

Serena's eyes were glued to her phone, not that she was paying any attention to it. She knew Dan's eyes were all over her and she was just waiting for him to pounce on her. And if he didn't, she would. She missed the feel of his skin on hers and his hands tangled in the locks of her waving hair. Dan's eyes danced back to hers; his eyes skimming the curves of her face.

Wow. She was so beautiful, he thought to himself; lost in the wonder that was Serena van der Woodsen. He hadn't thought about her like that in a long time, so many nights he was dazed in the power of Blair Waldorf. The one he thought would be better for him, a better fit, someone who shared the same interests as him, someone who was far less complex, hurt, venerable, confused. Serena was a contradiction. She was so full of self-doubt and sorrow but she was so, so light. She brought light to his life every single day. Her shining smile that bounced off her lips, making his world instantly happier. Dan felt conflicted. He was so sure he loved Blair, but watching Serena; there was something so breathtaking about her. He lost himself in her beauty, her selflessness, her happiness. And in this moment, she was all those things.

He inhaled a deep breath, eyes still burrowed in the depths of her splendour.

"Serena." He spoke carefully, slowly, bewildered. His voice was so sincere; it spoke so much to her. Her eyes flickered over to his as she dropped the phone next to her, where it tumbled to the ground.