Serena van der Woodsen climbed onto her best friend's bed, puffing up the pillows and laid her head on them; her long beautiful blonde hair sprawled all around her face like a shining halo. "Come here," she patted the empty spot beside her, beckoning Blair Waldorf to join her.
Blair climbed up beside her and put down the two mugs of hot chocolate on her bedside table. "We haven't done this in a while," she said, lying down beside Serena and letting out a huge sigh.
"Way longer than just a while. It feels like we're back at eighth grade. We should've done this sooner," Serena replied contentedly.
"Well, I guess between shopping, scheming, dating, and trying to get into college, we just never have time for old time sleepovers anymore."
"You had one with all the girls and Nelly Yuki a while ago, and you forgot to invite me," Serena reminded her with an amused smile.
"That was part of an evil plan!" Blair protested. "Besides, you were busy being out with Georgina Sparks, remember?"
"Guilty as charged," Serena sighed. "Don't you wish everything could be so simple again? Like back in the old days? When we were little, we were never concerned with boys or how to figure out their minds and eventually win them over, or how we have to keep our friends because everyone just automatically loves each other, or tests, or how hard it is to get into college."
"Especially how hard it is to get into college. I'll go back to those times any day."
"It's so weird to think there used to be a time when both of us and Chuck and Nate were just a bunch of kids—best friends—who think of each other as nothing else than someone we love to play with. None of these complicated feelings involved."
"I know, right?" Blair gazed at the ceiling pensively. "Do you think because we fell in love—me and Nate, then you and Nate, and then me and Chuck—it screwed up everything? Our friendship?"
"Well, it certainly made it more complex… but I like to think deep down we're still always going to be friends, you know?"
Blair looked at Serena in amusement. "You are always the optimistic one."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing. That's why you and I work so well as best friends. I'm always prepared for the worst, including in people, and you find it so easy to trust everyone. We complete each other."
Serena laughed. "Right. What would I do without you, B?"
"You know you love me," Blair grinned. "Though speaking of love, if there's someone who has allegedly fallen in love way too many times than what is healthy, it's certainly Nate Archibald. Do you think he really loves all those girls he dated? Do you think he ever really loved me?"
"I don't know, but I think Nate's just confused," Serena rubbed Blair's arm comfortingly. "He doesn't really know what he wants. He's always been the one among us who really never quite figures himself out. Maybe that's why he's also confused about who he wants in a relationship."
"Hmm… That actually does make quite a lot of sense. Who knew you could be smart?" Blair said jokingly, causing Serena to smack her with a pillow.
"Give me some credit; I did pass some classes even though they're not AP classes."
"Good point. Hey. Can I ask you something?" Blair suddenly looked serious, and Serena glanced at her momentarily before she shrugged, signaling that her friend should proceed. "Were you ever… in love with Nate?"
Serena blinked a few times, caught off guard. "Where's this coming from?"
"Just answer the question, S. I won't hold it against you. I'm just curious."
"Okay… Well, I don't know. Maybe? But it's not like I have a whole lot of time to figure it out. That one time was purely physical and ever since then I've kind of been occupied with other guys. It was a one-time mistake, really."
"Maybe it just happened at the wrong time. Maybe if you actually give it a try you'll find out that you're in love with him as much as he was in love with you. You both have been busy dating other people but each other, after all."
Serena looked at Blair, puzzled. "Well, we had the perfect chance back at the Hamptons to try it again, but first chance he got, he ran off with Catherine, remember? Which I guess is pretty insulting, unless he does prefer older women. But it seems his taste is pretty broad." She scrunched up her nose, not liking the reminder, even though she had to admit she enjoyed that whole pretend-kiss thing way more than she probably should. Except, she also remembered, she kind of got back together with Dan right after that. Shaking the confusing memories away, she focused back on Blair. "Why are you trying to set us up, anyway? Are you no longer in love with him? Because aren't you supposed to be his perfect match?"
"Yeah," Blair averted her friend's gaze. "That's what everyone thought, isn't it? But just because something looks perfect, doesn't mean it is. I have admitted that being with him is easy, no drama. And I guess we look good together, which is always a plus." Serena giggled at that. Blair and Nate were both brunette and pretty. They were like real life versions of brunette Barbie and Ken. As she pondered this, Blair continued. "He's such a sweet, simple guy, kind of my opposite, and in theory, we could easily complete each other. But that's just it. Theories don't always work. They say opposites attract but that's not always the case, is it?"
Serena sighed, her Barbie-Ken imagination shattered. "I guess not. Look at me and Dan. How much more opposite could we be? We literally belong in different worlds. Sometimes I think it doesn't work simply because we're too different."
"See?" Blair declared triumphantly. "There really is no fixed rule for which relationships work and which don't."
"Okay, Ms. I'm-A-Relationship-Expert-Now," Serena laughed. "So does that mean you and Chuck is the perfect match then, since you both are so similar?"
"That's not what I'm saying either. Two people with the same weakness have no one to save them. And they'll eventually just destroy themselves and the relationship, which is exactly what happened."
"Leave it to you to dramatize it all up. Although I get your point. So who is our perfect match then, if those that are the opposite of us can't always complete us, and those who are similar to us just double the misery?"
Blair took a deep breath and shook her head. "I don't know, S. I wish I do, but I honestly don't."
Serena looked at her friend for a moment and smiled. "That's okay," she said simply. "We'll figure it out together someday."
Blair seemed content enough with this statement, so the two of them just drifted into silence, a very comfortable one. They would wake up the next morning still being none the wiser about how to find Prince Charming, but for now, there was one unspoken fact that made them feel comforted either way.
The fact that they still and would always have each other.