A/N: I haven't been hardcore for this couple since DS's almost hook-up in the S3 finale, but I read a couple oneshots about them tonight – by singsongsung and DaeDreemer, who write awesome fics about anyone w/ Serena pretty much, mostly CaS & NS ;) – and am officially hooked again, at least for the time being. I'm totally side DS on the show right now, so this may dissolve by the next episode. XD Anyways, I'm feeling really inspired at the moment, so if you want this to become a multi-chap, let me know. Otherwise, I'll probably keep it as a oneshot. ;)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

Ch.1- Split Second

It wasn't that she remembered anything that had happened in the last twelve hours, at least not at that moment that her eyes first fluttered open after what sensed was a too deep length of sleep. It was that she hadn't expected to see him, here, in a strange room, with her. The strange room thing wasn't exactly an unfamiliar concept for her, though the frequency of ending up in one had slowed considerably during the last year or so. It was him that was unfamiliar to her. Sure, she'd seen him near the end of winter some eight plus months earlier, but it seemed so foreign to her now.

She blinked, slowly sitting up and brushing hair out of her eyes. She groaned before she could address him though, a massive headache hitting her like a ton of bricks. He turned towards her but she couldn't see him. She'd closed her eyes in an attempt to numb the pain. It hadn't worked.

Suddenly, she felt the bed dip and could sense the presence of a hand resting mid-air in front of her.

"Here," he said. She opened one eye, tried to see past her mop of blonde hair and hand covering up most of her forehead and eventually accomplished the difficult feat. She saw that there were two pills in the hand he held out to her and a glass of cool water, some dripping down the side of the glass clutched in his other hand. He looked at her patiently, and then expectantly.

"Headache, right?" he questioned, though of course he knew the answer. She didn't want to move her head in the way of a nod because she knew it would send more pain wracking through her already sensitive nerves. She'd had headaches like this before, ones that were worse too. With her unoccupied hand, she grabbed the pills, put them in her mouth and then stole the glass of water away from him, using the beverage to swallow the little white pills whole.

He took the glass of water back before it slipped out of her hand, but not before she had swallowed half the contents inside. She must've been thirsty, he realized, sporting a smirk that didn't register on her radar. She was busy pushing her long blonde locks back off of her forehead while still dealing with the throbbing pain that the medicine hadn't reached quite yet.

"Long night?" he asked, setting the glass on the nightstand a little ways away. She looked up at him, appearing slightly irritated that her hair refused to stay out of her face.

"Why are you talking so loud?" she asked, her voice raspy. He chuckled and shook his head.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said, watching her as she slid back until she was leaning against the headboard. She closed her eyes and let her head fell back until it reached the polished mahogany. She sighed wearily.

"What are you doing here?" she asked after awhile. He'd gotten up and walked back to the window by this time. He didn't shift and turn his body towards her, which she oddly wanted him to do. She could tell he was preoccupied by something outside the window. At the moment, she didn't care what it was that was more important than she was, she just wanted him to focus back on her, so that she could get the answers to the questions she was too tired to voice – the ones besides the one she'd just asked.

"I was in the neighborhood." He shrugged, still gazing out onto the moonlit street.

"Where are we?" she asked, unwilling to argue his claim when she was still in such a hazy state. Her frame sliing down the wood until she'd fallen back into a lying position, aside from her head upright lying on the headboard. It was completely too uncomfortable, so she just pushed herself out and dove her face into the pillow. She was too tired to reach for the sheet to cover herself or to ask for him to help her either. She was feeling oddly hot too, so the action in and of itself didn't make any sense.

He pursed his lips. "Somewhere safe."

"Not home," she said groggily.

He shook his head. "No. Not home."

She sighed, from tiredness though, not from aggravation.

"Close though," he said. She wanted to concentrate because she felt he was about to say something important, maybe even an answer to one of her many questions – the ones he'd heard her asked vocally or the ones he'd perhaps assumed. But she was too tired, and it was still the middle of the night. The memories weren't coming back from even the few hours before she'd obviously gone unconscious.

"Not home…" she yawned, trailing off. He smirked, finally walking over to her. She sounded so cute when she was trying to stay awake. He couldn't make himself miss the visual. Her arm hanging off the side of the bed was more than incentive to go back to her.

"Better than where you were probably headed, beautiful," he told her, bringing the silky sheets over her body.

"Mmhmm…mmm…" she mumbled in her almost sleep. His smirk slipped into a smile and he tucked a curl behind her ear. Miraculously, it stayed.

"We'll talk in the morning," he whispered. She didn't respond and her breathing was quietly even now. He knew she was asleep. "Because, Van der Woodsen," he continued nonetheless, "I believe you need me again."

Nate was not there, and neither was that other boy-toy of hers he'd seen play prince charming three years before. It was him who'd seen her asleep – or unconscious rather – in the back seat of a cab with a stranger. The girl beside her had looked suspicious to say the least. The place she deposited Serena looked even worse than the less than appreciable cab they'd been riding in. Once the girl had left, he'd taken initiative. Something was going on here that wasn't right, and just shaking his head at Serena's new predicament would be a foolish decision on anyone's part, especially now that he was conveniently in the vicinity – nevermind the reason. So, he took her away and he kept her safe. In the morning he would ask questions and he would search for the answers she couldn't give. Until then he watched the streets. It wasn't Manhattan, but it wasn't foreign either. He'd spot that deceptive girl in a heartbeat if she tried to track them down, despite how soon it was after her drop-off. She was no friend of his already, and he was sure no friend of Serena Van der Woodsen's.

…

A/N: Wow. I really don't think I even CAN keep this as a one-shot after that. Lol. But tell me your thoughts anyways. Heh. I'll try to update CB stuff in awhile. This one just really demanded I write it. ;p