Disclaimer: I don't own GG. At all. *Sigh*

A/N: I posted this last night around 2:00 AM. I reread it this morning and noticed some errors. Plus, I've realized that one of the reviewers was right, the second person point of view definitely didn't work in this story. :) (Oh and I think I've finally gotten rid of all the kinks. :D )

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. If people like it enough, I might make it multi-chapter. I already have a plot in line. :)

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You know there is something wrong when you are sitting on a lawn chair in front of the swimming pool talking to your best friend at two o'clock in the morning. More so when you are the only ones out, dressed in your nighties and munching on food that probably belong in the toilet bowl instead.

"S," Blair whispers quietly. Serena gives her a knowing look and she lets out an uncharacteristic sigh. "It's just that I…"

"What? Never knew he still meant a lot to you?"

"I – well – no! I'm just miffed, that's all."

"About?" Trust Serena to get her normally cool and composed best friend to openly admit how the latter felt behind her facade. The blonde was never good with questions that were answerable with yes or no. Come to think of it, she never really asked those. Most of the time she just said a word or two, using bait to fish out whatever information she wanted. It always came to her, just like everything else in her life.

"That girl's manners – or lack thereof. She has absolutely no class, no delicadeza," Blair replies with a huff.

"You're jealous aren't you?"

"No! Our relationship ended years ago. Four to be exact. I harbor no feelings for Nate Archibald any longer."

"Aren't we getting a little defensive, B? I mean, I just asked if you were jealous, not if you were still in love with him," she says teasingly.

"I just wanted to make things clear. But to answer your question, no, I do not feel jealousy of any sort. Only pity, perhaps. Poor Archibald, stuck with such a hussy."

"You don't really know Laly personally, you know."

"Well I don't have to! She's clearly a skank with no breeding whatsoever."

"And just what did she do to you except be Nate's latest girlfriend?"

"Why, she was all over him! If she had class, she would know better than to flaunt their relationship in front of an old flame. She practically jumped him! And she made sure I saw every caress, every whisper – Ugh! It was just appalling!"

"B, come on. It was nothing and you know it. Maybe she's a teensy bit more clingy than others but we've all had our days, haven't we?" She looks at Blair pointedly and the latter defiantly juts out her chin. She has, however, nothing to reply to her best friend's quiet accusation. After all, she did date his best friend in front of him, even went so far as to make the said best friend jealous by flaunting Lord Marcus that summer before senior year. Blair is no amateur in the field of jealous plots and fake clingy-ness.

"Whatever S." The pair is quiet for a while, both staring at the pool's waters. Absently, Blair wonders if it is the tile design that gives the water a blue green hue or if the chlorine was what caused it. All of a sudden she remembers one of her telephone sessions with Nate. They were thirteen then and bored, reduced to asking each other the most random – albeit stupid – questions that entered their mind. The question pertaining to the swimming pool water was one of them.

"Seriously B, it still bothers you doesn't it?"

"Of course no- "

"B!"

"Fine! Maybe a little. But it's not because I still love him. I mean, I have Chuck now. And despite my mother's – and just about everyone else's – belief that he's no good for me, he is a good boyfriend. We're good together, S. I can be myself with him. I can laugh and be crazy and evil and know that he won't care because he loves me."

"Or because he's even crazier and more evil than you are!"

"Maybe so. But the point is, I'm in a good place right now. Things might not have turned out the way I wanted them to but I'm happy."

"And so?"

"My life is in order, like it should be. Seeing him, being near him, it doesn't belong in any of this. Me being bothered by his new girl – that shouldn't be happening!"

"Yet it is, isn't it?"

"Yes," Blair says quietly. Silence hovers over the girls again as they struggle with their personal thoughts.

So much has happened in the last few years. When she was fifteen, things were simpler. Serena was her best friend, Nate was her boyfriend. Her father was still in the closet, her mother's bitch level was lower than it is now and things more or less ran smoothly. She had the perfect grades, the right amount of extra-curricular work. Getting into her chosen university was more or less a sure thing. Heck, she'd had her whole life planned out!

After high school, she would enter Yale with Nate. The both of them would live separately the first couple of years and maybe move in together near the end of college. He'd propose to her after they graduated, she'd say yes but tell him she wanted to wait a while first. The both of them would get jobs, have their own money apart from the vast wealth they would inherit from their respective families before finally tying the knot a couple of years later. The children would come right after, twins preferably, a girl and boy that would be the perfect blend of their gorgeous parents. Nate would take over the family business while she succeeded as a corporate lawyer. Of course, the both of them would be there for their children, the perfect parents. They'd have parties, attend galas and balls, be the perfect couple everyone always said they were and would be.

Blair wonders sometimes about what happened to those dreams – and ultimately the girl who dreamt them up in the first place.

"She grew up," she whispers.

"What B?"

"Nothing," Blair says with a weak smile. Things were doing better now than they had in the last few years. Harvard wasn't Yale but it was good enough. Chuck wasn't Nate but he had his good qualities too. He was strangely sensitive to the things Nate just seemed to ignore and he certainly kept her up on her toes. She was happy enough – most of the time. Once or maybe twice every six months since high school she thought about Nate but that was mostly it though. Freshman year of college, she heard he was dating a girl in Dartmouth, a short brunette heiress. When that relationship fizzled, she found herself smiling. That was mostly because Anne Archibald had told her what an "awful" girl she was. "So unlike you Blair," were here exact words.

"S, can I make a confession?"

"Of course!"

"You know how I've always planned my perfect wedding?"

Serena rolled her eyes and laughed. "Of course B! You told everyone about how your wedding – to Nate, I might add – would be the wedding of the century. We were maybe eight and you were already claiming that your wedding would beat that of Lady Di's!"

"Well you know, I still think about it a lot."

"Your wedding day? Who doesn't? I think every girl dreams of that big day. Yours will probably be perfect! I mean, you've been planning it for so long!" she frowned slightly. "Although the groom role may have to be – uh – modified slightly."

"Or not."

"Wha - ? You just said you were over him, B. And I can see you're happy with Chuck. I mean, yeah, I personally love interrogating you about the Golden Boy but all these years, you've never shown any sign of interest. It's almost like you erased him from your world completely."

"Well, I don't know. It's just that, well, no matter how hard I try, when I picture myself in that white gown with the flowers and with the whole of New York's eyes on me, the groom – when he turns – I still see Nate Archibald." She looks pleadingly at her best friend. "Tell me the truth! Am I crazy to still be holding on to some hope or idea that one day, I will be married to him anyway?"

Serena bites her bottom lip and furrows her eyebrows. "No."

"What?"

"No. I said no. You're not crazy."

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because when I think about it, when I imagine myself walking down that aisle as your maid of honor, I find myself looking up at the best man and I see Chuck Bass."

"That's different. You're just saying Chuck isn't right for me – just like the rest of the world, I might add."

"No, let me finish. I also see you Blair. I see you walking down that aisle behind me, a smile on your face. You'll look happy and in love and beautiful and radiant…And when you take the groom's arm, I see a happy couple who've been in love since they were too young to even know what the word meant. I see my best friends. Blair and Nate. B and N. Waldorf and Archibald. Just like it's always been."

Blair gives her a sad smile and unfolds her legs. "If you're so certain, then why does life seem to be so…so…"

"Uncertain?"

"Yes, for a lack of a better word."

"Well, I don't know. Another one of its quirks maybe?"

"How do I fix this?"

"Nothing. Don't do anything. Let it be, Blair. Things will turn out."

"But what if they don't? Shouldn't I do something? Plot to break them up? Mix up some potion?" Blair shakes her head in exasperation. "God, here I go again! I'm forgetting what's important. I. Have. Chuck. I have Chuck. IhaveChuck."

"Chill, B. Like I said, just leave it alone. If you do anything now, it might end up ruining things for the both of you. So just enjoy life. Have a blast with Chuck, get that diploma you've always wanted. Things don't always have to follow a single pattern. There's not one road to follow."

"But I'm just about overflowing with emotion. And you know how I get."

"Yes, I do. You open that notorious mouth of yours and end up making a mess of things. You hurry too much, always impatient to get the desired result. Learn to wait it out. And remember that the journey's as important as the destination."

"Ugh. Since when have you become the emotionally stable half of this friendship?"

"Since I fell in love with Dan?" she replies dreamily.

"Ick. Lonely boy. I don't know what you - "

RING! RING! RING!

"N! It's you. Oh. Oh okay. B and I are on our way."

When she flips her phone shut, Blair gives her one of her scariest glares. "Did you just tell Nate we would be going to wherever he – and that slut-skank-whore – are?"

"Yes and no. He's at the Palace, grabbing a few drinks with the old gang. They're feeling all nostalgic and they want us there to complete the picture. Laly – or as you say, that slut-skank-whore – went home hours ago with a headache."

"Hmph."

"So. Let's split."

"It's nearly four in the morning, S."

"Since when have you cared about being out this late?"

"Since high school graduation. Since I reformed and left this life – and Nate Archibald, for that matter – behind." Serena gives her a smirk and Blair is tempted to stick her tongue out. "Well maybe the leaving Nate part isn't so true. But the reforming part is!"

"Oh come on, B! You know you can't resist a good night – or morning – of drinking with us. Nor can you resist some N-oggling time."

"No comment," Blair replies with a slight smile. "Or. Wait. What the hell, this one time. This one last time."

"Hah. You know you can't leave this part of your life completely behind, don't you?"

"I can try."

"Will you? I mean, we both know how much this all - this old routine - still means to you. How much HE still means to you."

"Ugh. I hate having a weakness."

Her bestfriend, the reason for most of this mess anyway, stands up and grabs Blair by the wrist. "Oh come on, B! Stop overanalyzing everything! It's just a night of fun and drinks and come to think of it, Chuck's going to be there. Go make out with him in front of Nate as payback for the Laly thing if you want," she teases.

"Now, there's a thought!" Blair replies standing up and brushing imaginary dirty off her nightie.

"Nah, you wouldn't," she says, suddenly serious, as she stares at Blair fixedly. "You wouldn't."

"I wouldn't?"

"You care about his feelings too much. You don't want him to be hurt or bothered or disturbed in any way. Still the martyr. Still looking out for Natie."

"Always have, always will, right?" Blair says at last with defeat.

Serena hooks her arm with Blair's and gives the Queen B a big smile. "Right. Now come on, stop being so mopey and be happy. Forget about the Nate troubles. Things will boil over someday. Meanwhile, enjoy what's here. What's now."

You know that things are going to get better when you go out into the night hand-in-hand with your best friend, hail a cab and meet the rest of the gang. More so when you know that beyond the drinks and the partying that await you that night, there lies a future with the one who's always owned your heart.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! :)