Serena left the Van der Woodsen's penthouse with a smile on her face. The sun was shining and it was another hot summer day on the Upper East Side. She had eaten breakfast with Lily and Rufus and was now on her way to her best friend's town house.
She just couldn't take the smile off her face as she walked down the street, looking for a taxi.
"Serena," she heard the familiar voice coming from behind her and turned to see her beautiful friend Nate Archibald through his town car window. "I see you're back from your little trip with Dan."
"Nate! Yeah, I'm back. We're back. Dan and I, I mean." She said and shook her head, laughing at her muddled words. "Where are you going?"
"Lunch at the Waldorf-Bass town house." Nate said. "Henry asked me to go and I just couldn't say no."
"He has everyone wrapped around his cute little finger, doesn't he?"
"He does. And where are you going?" he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Same place as you. Would you mind to give me a ride?" she asked and bit her lip.
"Not at all. Get in." he opened the door from inside and she entered the car.
"Thank you, Nate."
"It's really nothing," he gave her a half smile."So, uh, how was it? I mean, your trip."
"It was good." she looked up at him and grinned. "Great, actually. Dan and I went to Paris. It was really fun."
"So, you two are in this for good this time, huh?"
She stopped breathing for a second.
"Yeah, I guess. We're working things out." she looked away trying to avoid any eye contact that could denounce her thoughts.
"Serena, you've been working things out for the past 5 years. Is it really what both of you want?"
"Nate!" Serena shook her head in disapproval. "Don't. Just... don't."
"You're my friend and I care about you, Serena." he said as he touched the naked skin of her arm.
Serena just shook her head again, the cheerfulness she was feeling ten minutes before had suddenly dissapeared. And what bothered her the most was that Nate was right. It had already passed five years and they were still "working things out".
She didn't like to think about it. She simply chose to ignore the fact that they weren't even together to start with. It was just so much easier to pretend everything was worked out and they were going to live happily ever after.
Their unplanned trip really made her feel hopeful. She even thought that Dan was about to take a step forward in their relationship.
But she was wrong.
All they did was stroll in the city, and later she found out they were there only because Dan needed inspiration for his new writing.
She hadn't said anything. Even though she was totally pissed at him in that moment. At least he had invited her.
Earlier in the morning when he'd kissed her accidentaly, she felt like she was going to explode in happiness. And he hadn't apologized as he used to. But now she just couldn't help feeling like it meant nothing to him. Or at least less than it meant to her.
"Serena, I'm sorry. I didn't want to upset you." Nate said in a low tone.
Serena sighed and looked up at him. Her eyes met his gaze and she smiled at him in acknowledgement.
"It's okay, Nate. I'm fine, really."
She looked away again, silence growing heavy between them.
"We're here." Nate broke the silence once again. "Shall we?"
"Yeah, sure."
