Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Gossip Girl characters, nor do I claim to. However I do claim the rights to my OC, Kaitlin Corrigan and other OC characters that may develope.

I hope you'll enjoy the story, and reviews are much appreciated!

2011-01-14: Update: I've recently replaced all the chapters and fixed them to make sure there are dividers between them. I've been doing it as a distraction to keep me from writing the last chapter. I will be updating once every week from now on. Starting today.


Brutal Honesty

Chapter 1. From Katie without love

Nate looked up from his book, watching Dan crossing the courtyard of Colombia with a blond following closely. The blond, big shades and that funny color of hair only one girl had: Jennifer Humphrey. Since the last time Jenny had been back things had changed. Blair and Chuck were… friendly. And Serena was, she was Serena and never knew what she wanted but he knew she wanted Jenny as far away as possible. He followed Dan and Jenny with his eyes, trying to think of something to say to her if he had the chance. He's forgiven her. he'd known why she was at Chuck's that night, she was there looking for him and in some ways the only one he was really mad at was himself for not being there when she needed him to be.

Such a weak and warm heart, the mocking sound of Chuck's voice in his head laughed. He shook his head and got up from his seat, walking in the exact opposite direction from Jenny and Dan.

Without looking where he was going, Nate did the classically stupid thing and bumped right into a girl. His ice tea spilled over the front of her shirt and she cussed under her breath. "Friggin' city people," she said silent enough so that he probably shouldn't have heard her. "Don't you people watch where you're going? This is like the fourth time someone's bumped into me since I set foot on campus," she exclaimed in complete disbelief.

"I'm sorry," Nate started, almost stuttering at her anger, but not quite being able to keep a soft smile off his lips.

"You should be. This shirt," she said, tugging the fabric. "It's designer." He laughed. Just like every other girl he knew.

"Oh yeah, which one? I know of them all," he said, raising an eyebrow. "So I can buy you a new one."

She scoffed. "It's a Humphrey, you moron, and they can't be bought." Something pricked at the edges of his mind.

"A Humphrey?"

"Yes," she said irritably, pulling tissues from the bag that was slung over her shoulder. "A Humphrey original at that, dumb-dumb. The first and only of its kind," she glared at him. "Made for me."

"So it was a gift from a friend?"

She looked at him with a bemused look on her face. "You sound surprised. Why? I'm not the type to have designer friends? Or what? Because I'm not an Upper East Side snob I don't deserve nice things? Special things? Urgh, you know what," she said, just when he was about to say something. "Never mind. I'm running late. I promised to meet a friend here. Bye, clutz."

She marched away and he stood there, looking after her, still holding the empty cup of tea with his mouth open. "Wow," he said in total disbelief. No, that wasn't a friend of Jenny's. That girl was much, much too bossy and she reminded him of a younger, girly version of Chuck, pre-Blair. Scary thought.


Jenny looked around and saw Nate staring at some distant spot beyond a pillar. She turned her back quickly and looked at Dan. "This is seriously dangerous," she mumbled under her breath.

"Oh come off it," Katie spat as she gently slapped Jenny on the shoulder.

"My god! What happened to your shirt?" Jenny exclaimed and Katie shrugged.

"Some jerk with an iced tea decided to run into me. At least it wasn't coffee." She rolled her eyes. "It was way too Nothing Hill for me," she said barely lifting her shoulders in a shrug again. "You must be the other Humphrey. I'm Katie." She shook Dan's hand, and somewhere between Jenny staring at her shirt in disbelief and Jenny cracking a smile, Dan wondered how Jenny had even met the girl she'd brought with her. Her long brown hair and bit brown eyes didn't have a trace of the heavy make-up Jenny wore and her jeans weren't any kind of designer Jenny would have heard of.

"Come on, let's go sit down. I'd kill for a latte right now," Katie laughed and pushed Jenny in the general direction of the coffee-bar.

"But-" Jenny stuttered.

"The stain will be there when I've had coffee," Katie said, looking at Jenny sternly. "Neither I nor the shirt will disappear in the next few minutes, you'll get to clean it off, okay? Okay." Jenny nodded and Katie smiled. "Come on little miss non-fat-decaf-soymilk-cinneamon-whatnot frappucino. Latte for the non-designer educated girl. Noooow." Another light push in the right direction and Jenny complied.

Dan had to find out how Katie did that. He'd never seen his sister so calm about a fashion emergency. And he hadn't seen her laugh like that since long before Serena and the Upper East Side entered their lives.

"You," Jenny said pointing to Katie. "Are incorrigible."

"Ah, ten points to the girl who might be taking her SAT's after all." Katie kept her face straight until she looked back at Dan, who was still staring at the duo in complete awe.

"Come on Dan, you're holding up the line," Jenny complained.

"Oh, yeah, right. Coffee." That had been the very last thing on his mind. The girl had to be a miracle worker to make his sister so easy going.

Katie pulled her hair back into a loose bun and smiled at Dan. "So, how are you liking Columbia?"

Dan raised an eyebrow. "Jenny didn't really tell you all that much about me did she?"

Katie laughed and Jenny blushed. "No. I was taking a shot in the dark. But why are we here?"

"That's why," Dan whispered as he saw Nate pass them by.

"Him?" Katie said a little too loud. Nate stopped and looked at Dan, then Jenny and finally grinned at Katie.

"All of them," Jenny mumbled and looked away from Nate as he came over.

"Hey, man," he said, looking at Dan.

"Hey."

"I was just on my way to class. Jenny," he said, curtly. Katie narrowed her eyes at him.

"The iced tea man, that's Nate Archibald? Mr Clutz?" She shook her head. "Oh Jenny."

"Knock it off Kait."

She just smiled at Jenny, a sadly determined smile. "No. Not this time." Nate and Dan looked confused as Katie looked back up at Nate. "You," she started, saying it sharply. "You are a total ass. Just fyi."

Nate's eyebrows shot up into his forehead and he looked from each of the Humphrey's to the new girl. "And you are?"

"Kaitlin Corrigan."

She could tell he was about to introduce himself so she waved her hand at him. Nobody said anything for a while.

"Well, this was… weird," Dan said silently.

"Puh-lease – I've heard everything." She looked at Jenny, who had decided to lean her face into her hands, covering her brightly burning cheeks. "Good and bad, about the gorgeous, glorious Nathaniel Archibald." Her words stung as she spoke them, her eyes like knives.

"What did I ever do to you?" Nate asked her.

She scoffed again. "Nothing but ruin my shirt."

"She can make you a new one," Nate said, pointing to Jenny.

"So?"

Nate had no response to that. "So…"

"Look. I get it. You wanna play nice. Trust me, I understand. It's what keeps this off-balance world of yours from tipping over. But trust me when I say, I didn't come to Manhattan to make friends." She looked at Jenny who had stopped hiding and who was looking back at her with gratitude. "I came here to protect one."

"You shouldn't have told Nate off," Jenny said while she scrubbed away at the t-shirt.

"Oh he can take it," Katie laughed. "Besides, his face was just too priceless to stop once I'd started."

Jenny chuckled.


"You know, you were totally frozen when he came over," Katie pointed out, the words reaching Jenny in the bathroom where she still scrubbed at the shirt. She heard flipping through a magazine, a random and absentminded sound.

"Yeah…"

"Do you love him?"

She spun around to see Katie standing in the doorway. She made half a shrugging motion and sort of a I-dunno-bout-that face and turn back to the sink.

"So you love him. Well. We're only here for a short, short week, remember, no funny business and no going out with any Upper East Siders without me. Not even Eric."

"Kait-"

"No." Her voice went up higher at the end before she looked at Jenny. "Jen, come on. You know how this goes. Remember the Parsons audition? When you came back to Hudson? Cos I do. You said you felt like you needed to shower for a week straight."

"I know," Jenny mumbled, closing her eyes. "I know. But that doesn't make this any easier."

"You're home to see your family. Hang out with Dan and your dad and maybe even Lily and Eric, but the moment you start pushing it-"

"I've got you here, Kait. I won't even have the opportunity to start pushing it." Jenny laughed and put the t-shirt down. "Got the stain out. I still cannot believe you made me look at it all day."

"It was a stain, not the end of the world," Katie laughed. "Come on, let's go see if Lily and Rufus are home yet, I'm dying to meet Eric."

"All right…"

She watched her friend, the brutal brunette slip into a pair of slippers and twist her hair up. No make-up and a t-shirt Jenny would never have been caught dead in paired with worn out jeans, that had actually been worn to look like that, not bought.

"Jen, come on!"

"No more caffeine for you," Jenny stated as she followed her friend.


The next day was spent avoiding any place Blair Waldorf might possibly show up. As well as any place Chuck Bass might surface. Though Katie pointed out they weren't gonna go anywhere near the classy strip clubs. Jenny'd just laughed and wondered why she hadn't brought Katie home when she was going to the Parsons audition.

"So," Kait said, looking at the house. "This is the loft?"

"Yup. Home."

"Wanna go up, see it?"

"Nah. Dan lives there, so does Vanessa. Vanessa is…" She remembered the late night and the Skype meeting. "We better steer clear just for safety. "

"Why?"

"Cos, unlike you, Vanessa's not that kind of brutal brunette." Katie laughed.

"Brutal brunette… I like it!"

"Hey, what are you doing here?" a voice snapped and Jenny went rigid. Katie shook her head as she turned to face the girl.

"You must be Blair," Katie said, her voice cold and her smile insincere.

"Yes, I am. Not that it's any of your business." She turned back to Jenny. "I thought I told you to stay away-"

"You did. But I told her to see her family."

Blair looked at Katie like she was a piece of paper stuck to her shoe. "And you are?" she said, asking mostly because she was annoyed, and not caring for five seconds.

"An honest voice. Which this place desperately needs."

Blair turned her hard gaze to Jenny who looked so small all of a sudden. "Blair Waldorf, this is Kaitlin Corrigan. Kait, you assumed right, this is Blair." The first part had been some kind of reverence, but the later part meant for Katie was filled with anger and loathing. Good, Katie thought. Maybe you'll stand up to her and show her your true colors sometime soon. Instead of those wanna-be color you're been putting on so far.

"I'd say it's a pleasure, but I would be lying," Blair started and Katie just waved her off, like she'd done Nate the day before.

"I don't care what you say, or think, or anything really. What are you doing here anyway?"

Blair gawked at the new girl.


"Nate." The deep voice shook him, made him look up from the cup sitting on the counter.

"Hey man. How was the club?"

"Same old. What are you doing?" Chuck asked as he turned around with a glass of scotch in his hand.

"Staring."

"Yes, I can see that. The question is why."

Nate rubbed his chin and turned to face Chuck. "I met this girl, and she was… She was brutal."

"Oh Nate, not another one. We do not need another Juliette-"

"No no, she's here with Jenny. Visiting from Hudson."

"Right."

Nate looked at Chuck with heavy confusion. "What was that for?"

"That look. I didn't mean the girl would be another Juliette, Nathaniel. I only meant I don't need you moping around here for another month or so."

"No, that's not it. She didn't care who I was. Like, really, really didn't care. She insulted me, Chuck. Even after she knew who I was."

Chuck laughed. "Oh, then she must be worth all this time and effort, is she managed to insult you. Nate, Blair could do that on a semi-minute basis if you got on her bad side. If you want insults…"

"No," Nate said, closing his eyes for half a second. "Not like that. She meant it. She thought I was a douche." He looked at Chuck and smiled. "I wonder what she'd think of you…"

"As if it would even matter," Chuck said behind veiled eyes.

"She's not like anything you're ever been through Chuck. She makes Blair look demure and shy in comparison." Chuck's eyes glistened and a wicked smile spread across his face. "What are you thinking?" Nate asked, suddenly worried.

"I need to meet this girl."

Chuck downed his scotch and smiled even wider.