I haven't updated my other stories yet :\

But I really wanted to write this

It's just a short one shot

DS - After the pilot, season one

Serena was more than confused.

The lights of the city sparkled and danced through the window but it was quiet down here, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She sat in the plush armchair watching the rhythmic rise and fall of her brother's chest as he slept and she didn't know why, but she couldn't stop smiling. It was a different sort of smile that she was used to. The more she thought about it, the more she discovered just how genuine it was. It wasn't fake, it wasn't flirtatious, it was . . . nice. She tried to remember how long it had been since she'd smiled like this but she came up short and concluded that this strange and unknown feeling racing around her body was probably a little something called happiness. It was good to be home, she thought to herself, sinking further into her position. She felt kind of guilty, being this blithe though; she had betrayed her best friend, abandoned her mother and brother at a time like these and done something so unforgivable she wondered whether or not she could truly be happy ever again. And she was only sixteen. . .

She thought about everything that had happened; Blair had been so mean to her (maybe she deserved it), she couldn't stop fighting with her Mum no matter how hard she tried, Nate would not leave her alone and catching up with Chuck was far from fun.

All this weird, newly found happiness shone from one particular encounter, five minutes that changed all of it, one person that managed to make everything fade away with one look.

Dan Humphrey.

Their short encounter at the Palace lobby had stayed with her, crystal clear compared to the blur of everything else.

She liked the way he looked at her,

the way he smiled back,

the way he acted totally different from any other guy who managed to cross paths with her.

She liked that she made him nervous but more so that he was able to make her nervous. He wasn't overly confident or flirtatious, like he wanted her to like him, he didn't just want her. Those deep brown eyes held her gaze and didn't wonder or stray but it was like he admired all of her, all at once not just parts.

She wanted to tell someone, to share this feeling that she couldn't explain, but at the same time she wanted to keep it all to herself and preserve it for as long as possible. Maybe if she told someone it wouldn't work out. Relationships never did. The fairy-tales and the pining was Blair's forte, Serena usually just wanted guys and then wanted them to leave her alone. They bored her and they never knew when to stop. But something about Dan made her want to be the best that she could just by the way he looked at her. Now she wanted to prove herself, to be worthy of that look when she knew she wasn't. She was probably the last person that deserved to be looked at like that but the more she thought about it, the more she wanted. But more than anything, it scared her. She was always the center of attention for the wrong reasons that somehow felt right up until that moment.

Little did neither she nor he know that he had swept her off her feet with a single look; and she would not nor could not stop herself from falling.

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