Author's Note: Okay you all will kill me but there is no smut in this chapter. Don't worry there is plenty coming your way. If you are a fan Aaron stop reading this now..Although I'll be honest why anyone would like that abusive asshole is beyond me. LOL


Chapter 2: Take What you can get

Dan looked around his room and picked up the discarded condoms and the empty bottle of wine. He threw them into the trashcan that was in the corner of the room an tried not to focus on the fact that he may have ruined a great friendship for sex. It was an amazing night, but one he knew he was going to regret. Nothing good ever happened to him without some sort of dire circumstance. How was he going to look her in the face after what they had done the night before? Scratch that how was he supposed to look his father in the face after what he had just discovered? Dan was used to be the good kid, the one who didn't fail his parents, and the one who always stayed on the straight and narrow. But, last night he had initiated sex with his ex-girlfriend who happened to be dating someone else. It was not the sort of thing that he did. Dan Humphrey did not engage in illicit affairs. He was a good guy, but last night he was a good guy gone bad. He stuck his head through the door to see if his father was around. Once the close was clear he tiptoed out of the loft. He needed time to clear his head. He had no idea what he was going to say to his dad. There really was no logic explanation for his behaviour the previous night; at least not one he could share with a parent. He stopped by the coffee shop around the corner and got himself a latte before taking the subway. He wasn't sure where he was going or why, but that really wasn't the point. Hours later he found himself on the steps of the met perched where he usually found Serena or Blair.

He looked out at the city and sighed. This was not making him feel better. All he knew was that as much as he wanted to dismiss last night as a mistake, he couldn't. But, where could he go from here? She was dating someone else and he was still Dan Humphrey, failure extraordinaire.

"I need to focus on something else," Dan said to himself before getting up and walking down the steps.

Instead of going home and working on doing something that would help garner him his position at Yale, he continued to wander the city streets. A little over an hour later, he found himself at the Palace. He looked up at the grand structure and remembered the first time he'd come here. It seemed so long ago although it had just been last year.

"Its funny how much your life changes in a year,"he muttered to himself. All he had to do was walk through those doors and take the elevator up to her floor, but he wasn't ready to face her. So, he stood there looking up for a few more minutes before he turned to leave.

Serena lay on her bed looking through a box of things that she packed away months ago. She had put away anything and everything that reminded her of Dan right after they had broken up. She picked up a stack of pictures and flipped through them. They looked so happy back then and the memories of last night and what they had done only seemed to bring back emotions that she had pushed to the back of her mind. There was a part of her that would never fully let him go. She knew the wise thing would be to pretend like it was nothing more than a drunken tryst, but that would be like denying the existence of one of her limbs. But, Serena was not ready to put herself out there. Serena you that her relationship with Dan had dissolved for a reason, but a part of her was still hanging on to a part of him.

"He doesn't love you anymore," she muttered to herself.

Serena put the pictures back into the box, but like an addict she kept rifling through memories that she had deemed forbidden for the past two months. It felt more like an eternity, but really not much time had past since they had broken up. A part of her was still so damaged by the loss of him. She wanted his friendship, she needed it. But, after last night she had no idea what the future held for them. A part of her wanted to simply sink back into his arms while another part of her was reticent to jump into anything. They had failed twice before, what made her think they would work this time. Serena knew enough about alchol to know that it let you do things that you didn't otherwise have courage to do. She was surpised that Dan had made the first move. She didn't know what he watned, but it was too late. Neither of them could take back what had happened.

Her mother poked her head through the door, "someone's here to see you Srena."

"Who is it mom?"

"Aaron,"she replied.

It was exactly the distraction that Serena needed. Aaron was a nice guy and he was a lot of fun to be around. She got up and went to meet him in living room.

"hey,"Aaron said as he shoved his sweaty hands into his pockets

"Hi, what are you doing here Aaron?"

"We had plans? Remember a puppet show?"he asked.

Serena had completely forgotten about their Saturday morning plans. She was so caught up in rehashing the events of the previous night that her date with Aaron had completely slipped her mind.

"Oh yeah. Give me five minutes," she said before hurriedly leaving the room.

Serena changed out of her flimsy negligee and pulled on her jeans and a top. She stopped at the top of the stairs when she noticed Dan and Aaron staring at each other awkwardly.

"Oh crap, what do I do now?" she thought to herself. Serena stood frozen on the top of the staircase looking down at what could best be described as a silent pissing contest. She knew she had to go down there and put a stop to things before words were actually exchanged. Serena made her way down the steps and smiled at the two boys.

"Dan, you're here?"she said with an ere of feigned innocence.

"Yeah, I was hoping we could talk, but um, looks like you are busy."he said.

"Yeah, we were just heading out. Why don't you call me later? I should be home by dinner,"she said. Serena hugged him tightly before leaving with Aaron.

Dan stood there in the middle of her living room with the scent of her still permeating his senses.

Serena tried to focus on what Aaron was saying, but all she heard was "blah blah blah."

She really did like him, but it was hard to think about being with Aaron when all she could think about was the fact that Dan had come over to see her. She still could not block the images of the night before from her mind. Every time she closed her eyes she was transported back to the loft; back into his arms. Aaron reached for her hand and she tried to ignore the fact that it was sweaty and made her feel a degree of discomfort.

"Don't be an idiot S. He likes you and he's really nice. Just go with it," she chided herself. They sat down on the bench and got ready to watch the puppet show. Serena loved coming here every fall to watch it. There was just something about it that made her feel like a kid again. It was so simplistic. She often yearned for the simple things in life. She rubbed her hands together and bounced up and down on her seat.

Aaron looked at her oddly and said, "You seem awfully excited for a puppet show."

"I love puppet shows. They are so exciting."

Aaron looked at her oddly. "At least she's hot," he thought to himself.

He observed her as she watched the puppet show with such awe. There was just something about her, beyond the fact that she was breathtakingly beautiful. She had an innocence that surprised him. He was no stranger to Serena's reputation. He knew that she had been with that Dan guy for awhile and before that she'd been pretty wild. He was hoping to get a chance to see her wild side, but all he had gotten was little Mary sunshine. He was expecting hot and sultry all he seemed to get was a 13 year old in the body of sultry goddess. It made no sense to him. Aaron sighed and wrapped an arm around her. He just needed to be patient.

"Slow and steady wins the race," he said to himself.

Serena got off of Aaron's bike and tried to ignore the tension in the air. She had fun, but she wasn't sure if that was due to Aaron or the fabulousness of the puppet show. She handed him her helmet and shook out her hair. "Well, it was fun," she said awkwardly.

"I had a good time too," Aaron said while looking directly at her chest.

He didn't know how many more lame dates he'd have to endure before being able to get a feel for those babies.

Serena waved goodbye and kissed him on the cheek reluctantly before going up to the suite she now called home. She made it to the suite and went straight to her bedroom. When she got there she found Dan standing in the middle of the room.

"Dan? What are you doing here? You haven't been waiting the whole time have you?"she asked.

"No, no. I just got here a few minutes ago. Your mom let me in," Dan said as he stuffed his hand in his pockets and shuffled his feet.

"Oh okay. I'm glad you're here," she said as she sat on her bed.

"Yeah, um, I though we should talk about what happened," he said.

"Yeah, I guess,"Serena said as she looked up at him. She knew they had to have this conversation, butshe didn't know exactly what to say.

"I, uh, I don't know where to start. Last night well, I was very drunk."

"As was I,"Serena said as she stood up. He was so damn goodlooking. She loved how adorable he looked when he was frazzled. There was just something about Dan that just got under her skin.

"And sleeping together probably wasn't the best decision if we want to maintain a friendship."

As soon as he had said that, Serena began to conjure up images of him naked and in her arms. She bit on her lip and said, "probably not."

"So we agree it shouldn't happen again,"Dan said before looking at her a beat. She was gorgeous on all he wanted was to eat her up. In fact he couldn't stop thinking about the other night. All he wanted was to feel her again—to touch her.

"Absolutely, never again," Serena said as she gazed at him with lust in her eyes.

They stared at each other for moment before crashing into each others arms. Dan sunk his finger into her long locks. He loved the silken feel of her hair. He used his tongue to gently part her lips. She gasped and wrapped her arms around him. The fell back on to her bed and continued to devour each other like their very lives depended on it. Eventually they came up for air. Dan laid his head on her forehead as he tried to gain control over his breathing. "This is probably a bad idea," Serena said.

Dan looked at her and all he knew was he wasn't ready to let her go, "Maybe its time I was bad," he said before capturing her lips again. He started fumbling with the buttons on her top as he kissed her. Serena looked up at him thinking that she should know better that they would only regret this later, but his proximity was intoxicating. He was like a drug and being near him simply drove her to want another hit.

Serena sat up and pulled his jacket off as he worked the remaining buttons. She was clawing at him wanting to reach his bareskin as soon as she could. "Has anyone told you, you wear too many damn clothes?"

Dan chuckled and said, "No, no they haven't."

She finally got him down to his under shirt which she pushed up to his shoulder as she kissed his flat stomach. It amazed her how much hotness was hidden behind the dorky exterior. Dan closed his eyes as she kissed across his torso. Her feather light touches had him slowly going out of his mind. He sunk his hands in her hair and let the simple feel of her wash all over him. It was a feeling he knew that once this was all over, he wouldn't be permitted to enjoy again. Whatever this was—was forbidden territory and tomorrow they'd go back to their lives. She would go back to dating the creepy artist and he'd return to his existence as lonely boy and exboyfriend.