AN: Right, okay. It's past five in the morning and this is going up before I can change my mind about it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl, just this completely unrealistic storyline.
Serena was, to put it in the simplest terms, exhausted.
Instead of spending her final summer before college with a lonely Blair, as maybe she should have, her months of freedom were instead consumed by plane tickets, disappointment, and Carter Baizen's overwhelming scent. She had ditched England, her first planned destination of many, to go with him to Fiji in hopes of finding something that was so long ago lost; it was almost naïve of her to think it could be found again. Once Fiji turned to Turkey, then Italy, which led to a short stop in Switzerland, her original travel plans recreated themselves. The exception was Carter, who found a way to stand next to her in every scenario she had at first pictured solo.
Not that she minded. Or at least, under the influence of Italian moonlight, 600-thread count sheets and three glasses of Chardonnay she didn't. When the frustration from Keith's almost purposeful hiding became too much, breaking through cracks she had hidden away too long ago to remember, he was there, caressing her arm or neck and whispering comforting words. She'd be lying to herself by thinking it hadn't helped.
Now that summer was at its anticlimax, her return to the city was inevitable (even if all she had to show for her weeks away was more luggage and unfortunate plane hair.) She hadn't spoken to any of her friends since she left, minus a few static-consumed calls to Blair in which the brunette was much too distracted to have any type of decent conversation. Serena assumed this meant that her friend had found some sort of charity to distract her from any Bass-induced states of depression, or that a new boy had done the job. Either one would satisfy the blonde immensely.
She instructed the driver who picked her up from the airport to take her to the Waldorf penthouse. She knew that Cyrus and Eleanor had scheduled to leave last week for Milan, Paris or another fashion-based city, and figured she could surprise Blair with some refreshing company. It had been nearly two weeks since their last fuzzy talk, and all she was able to get out was that Carter might possibly be showing his face in the city soon before Blair had hung up. She assumed it was a bad connection and didn't bother calling a few days later to inform her of her arrival back on the Upper East Side.
It was nearly two o'clock when her town car pulled up to the building. She thanked her driver, telling him to drop off her luggage at the given address, and then greeted the doorman warmly before making her way to her friend's floor.
Once the elevator dinged, signaling her stop, Serena put a smile on her face and practically skipped onto the tile, her new ankle-high boots resonating her arrival to anyone on the first floor.
Turning the corner into the living room, she nearly squealed in anticipation. "Ah, B! I'm so happy to-"
There were few things that could shock Serena after all she had seen in her seventeen years gallavanting around the world. She had witnessed a lot; most then others could admit to (or would.) Years from now, though, the blonde was nearly positive she could attest to the fact that seeing her best friend and Chuck making out on Blair's favorite lounging chair was in the top percentile of most shocking, and…revolting things she had opportunity to witness.
"Oh…my."
Blair quickly broke apart from, what in Serena's perspective, appeared to be devouring her brother's face, to look behind her at the interruption. Upon seeing Serena standing there, clearly dumbfounded, her confused frown turned into a beaming smile.
"Oh my god, S, you're back!"
She quickly entangled her legs from Chuck's, and, using her hands, pushed on his chest to stand up. Clearly, they had been horizontal for a while, as Chuck groaned when her weight was lifted off him.
"Really, sis, of all times to return…"
Blair ignored his mumbled complaint, scampering over to envelope her best friend in a hug.
"I missed you so much! We've hardly gotten to talk, how was Europe? Tell me everything!"
Serena was not capable of much more than staring at the brunettes before her in awe. Chuck had sat up now, and was rubbing his face with both hands in what could only be a gesture of frustration. Blair, however, was re-buttoning her red blouse and looking at her expectantly.
"Europe was…fine." She shook her head, finally able to focus on the surreal reality before her. "I'm sorry, but weren't you two on separate continents when I left?" She raised her eyebrows at Blair. "Forgot a few details on the phone, hm?"
Blair shrugged nonchalantly, her smile not faltering. "Oh please, like I would tell you anything like this," she gestured behind her, "over the phone."
"I wouldn't have minded."
"She figured you would appreciate the news more if it was shared in person, since girls are emotionally less stable then boys and you would find some way to get angry at her if she had shared it via telephone," Chuck voiced from behind the pair. They both turned to look at him. He shrugged. "Just echoing what Blair told me at the beginning of summer."
"Chuck, this is so not the time-wait. The beginning of summer?!" Serena shrieked, turning towards Blair again. "This has been going on for how long exactly?"
Blair rolled her eyes. "He came back the day you left." Turning around, she glared at Chuck. "See, this is why you weren't supposed to be present when she found out."
He smirked at her, not looking away when he continued. "Nathaniel had no problem hearing about it…what was it, two days after my return? I called him up and both he and Vanessa had the ability to voice their congratulations without being physically in the room." His smirk grew wider at Blair's look of warning. "Quite a talent."
"I cannot believe Nate learned about this before I did!" Serena's yell steered the focus back on her. "And Vanessa! Blair, you hate her! And yet she knows about your life-changing events before I do?!"
Blair scoffed. "Please. It's not like I took her out for a cup of coffee. She just happened to be with Nate. I, unlike him," she glanced back to send another menacing glare to Chuck, "have been raised with class and have thereby learned that it is proper etiquette to inform close friends of major events in one's life in person."
Serena sighed, closing her eyes and accepting this as just another facet of Blair's unbelievably complex (and overwhelming) personality. "Next time, a phone call…seriously, I won't be mad. Full details, everything. At least then situations like this one," she gestured to all three of them, "won't occur."
Blair gave out an uncharacteristic giggle. "I am really sorry, S. It happened so fast and this summer has just been…"
Chuck walked over to the girls, wrapping an arm around Blair's waist and kissing her neck. "Far too much for any outsider to comprehend." He smirked at his sister. "You interrupted one of the main components of it, actually."
Serena scowled. No matter how happy she was that Chuck and Blair had, frankly, finally gotten their shit together, she was never going to be comfortable seeing them go overboard on the public displays of affection. Even if what she had just seen hadn't been public, exactly.
"Okay, I'm leaving." She glared at Chuck before turning to her best friend, offering her a smile. "I'm really happy for you guys. I just hope this has taught us all a lesson."
Blair nodded her head, still in Chuck's grasp. "I promise, the next big event in my life, you'll get a call the moment it happens. And I'll give full details."
Serena gave her an appreciative look. "Thank you. And I have learned that I obviously no longer have the privilege of walking in here without a chance of my eyes and ears being scarred." She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Bye, guys. Call you later, B!" she called over her shoulder as she turned around to make her exit.
"Bye Serena," they echoed together. Once she was in the elevator leading her back downstairs, Chuck whipped his girlfriend around. "Time for round two?" he offered, giving off the soft yet still electrifying smile he reserved only for her.
She laughed, putting her hands in his hair. "First, this," she said, giving him a soft kiss as they made their way back to their previous spot. "Later, a little something different."
_____
"OHMYGOD, Serena!"
"Whatisit," Serena mumbled into her cell phone. It was 3:36 a.m. on her first full day back. She was jetlagged, overtired, and was going to maim whoever decided to call her at this hour. And then after that was done, kill herself for making the choice to answer her phone.
"It's Chuck!"
"Chuck…" her eyes were still closed.
"He just proposed!"
Serena's eyes popped open, the exclamation leaving a foggy imprint on her brain, but still potent enough to wake her up. "What?"
"I know, isn't it great? We were just in the middle of having sex here at his suite, and he popped the question in between rounds two and three." There was a pause in which Serena heard her friend give an overdramatic sigh. "Isn't that just the sweetest?"
"Blair, I-" she rubbed her eyes, partly confused, partly exhausted, and partly furious. "There are some things friends can keep to themselves, okay? That right there was totally an example."
"But, Serena," the unnecessary emphasis on Serena's name caused the blonde's stomach to drop. "I'm sorry, but was it not twelve hours ago that you were chiding me on waiting to tell you my big news in person?" Blair laughed. "I'm making up for it now! Here I am, calling you the moment something happens, and not sparing a detail." There was a small pause. "You see, he had just given me this amazing orgasm by slowly moving his-"
"Oh my god, I get it!" Serena flopped her head back down on her pillow, hating her friends for not being able to let anything go and at the same time, being too impressed for her own liking. "I'll talk to you later today. Much, much, later today."
"In her defense, this was all my idea," Chuck's voice filled her eardrum, followed by Blair's shriek ordering him to not take credit for her brilliant plans.
"What are you gonna do, B? Spank me?" Serena could practically imagine Chuck's expression, which disturbed her on an astronomical level. She shut her phone before she could hear her friend's response, which, she could guess, would not be in words.
The reason I appear to have abandoned FF is because most of my effort is going into stories I have created 100% originally, along with my novel-in-progress. When things like the latter come to me, though, I would be a fool not to share.