"Oh Eleanor you look marvellous. It's so good to see you" Howard, 'The Captain', Archibald greeted Eleanor followed by his wife. Nate took his time walking out of the elevator, with his hands in his pockets; he looked around, never having recalled visiting this house before.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Archibald, Captain" Blair greeted their guests and looked over to see Nate looking up at the chandelier, unaware of her presence.
"Your daughter is certainly growing into a fine woman Eleanor" The Captain complimented.
"Oh Serena!" Mrs. Archibald was the first to notice the blonde descending the stairs.
"Serena?" Nate's head quickly turned to see Serena, and "Blair?"
"Hey, Nate" Serena spoke confused. She had no idea the Archibald's were the guests for this lunch. She assumed it was some designers or possibly people from Bloomingdale's or something.
"Hey, uhh" he was beyond confused and flustered as the two gorgeous women stood in front of him, side to side, and he couldn't tell which of the two was making him feel less comfortable in his pants.
"You remember Blair. She came to visit earlier this summer. We used to hang out when we were kids" Serena explained, being as friendly as she could. She hardly ever saw Nate. She spends most of her time with Georgina, dressing up and hooking up with potentials all over Manhattan.
"Yeah of course. Hi" he extended his hand to Blair who smiled and took it delicately
"Hello, thank you for coming" Blair kept mentally kicking herself as she struggled with keeping a not too ecstatic smile on her face.
"Come Come" Eleanor spoke up "Please have a seat" gestured to her guests to wait in their living room that's adjacent to the dining room that was being set up.
They all went to sit but Nate was far too tempted. He did quick work on his phone and within moment's his phone was buzzing. "Could you excuse me please, I need to take this" and with that Nate made his way back to the elevator, to sit on a cushion he noticed was a bit far away.
"Hey Man"
"Don't Fuck With Me!" Chuck responded
"I'm not!" Nate was uncontrollably grinning
"You're telling me, you're at the Waldorf's with both Blair and Serena?" Chuck was about to start choking him through the phone.
"Dude, it's true. I didn't know" Nate explained to his friend honestly
"Listen, you are going to invite them both out for anything after lunch. And you better call me up to join" Chuck instructed carefully as he was already beginning to plan his evening.
"Yeah, and what are you going to do for me?" Nate bargained.
"Nathaniel. I just made you seem important with a phone call in front of the two most beautiful sixteen year olds in Manhattan. You Owe Me" and with that Chuck hung up and Nate chuckled at the thought. He got up and returned to the living room to find them now all sitting in the dining room. He swallowed hard as he noticed the seating arrangement. Was he really going to be able to sit between Blair and Serena.
He made his way to the table and pulled back his chair to sit. He got shot a glare from his mother and another hard swallowed "Sorry, it was important" he apologized again and looked over the food that was being placed in front of him.
"It's alright" The captain responded. "So Blair, what made you decide to live here?"
"Oh, well" She instinctively glanced to Nate but hoped dearly it went unnoticed "I really love it here. The people, the sights, and I've spent far too many days on Champs-Élysées, and not enough on fifth avenue" She joked. Serena ate her food silently, as did Nate. Blair glanced over but to no avail. Neither noticed her.
Nate was struggling with his thoughts. He kept repeating in his head over and over the game plan on Halo. The different weapons and the best strategy in each level. He remembered his evening with Chuck, how he felt smocking pot, and how he had to ask his friend for a smoke while he had his hands on a woman.
How would it be like to have his hands on a woman? Under Serena's dress? He made a quick glance at what Serena was wearing, very Boho. Under Blair's? And his pants tightened as he noticed the tip of her stockings attached to a garter belt and the ideas poured.
Blair was now smiling at his parents. Sure chuck wanted her, but that's because he couldn't have her. Then there's Serena. She just didn't notice him at all.
"So how have you been Nate?" Eleanor asked as she noticed the quietness on their side of the table.
"Fine" he responded quickly. "Pretty good, school starts in a few days" He explained to not anger his mother.
"Oh that's right, Blair will be attended Constance am I right?" Mrs. Archibald interrupted to avoid her son making a fool of himself when he had little to no sleep.
"Yes, I've already been registered. I'll be starting my Junior year there" She explained, glancing over to Serena who was now smiling at her.
"Yeah, I think actually I can come pick you up" Serena offered, It's not like she had anything else to do.
"Nate would love to escort you as well" Mrs. Archibald intervened again and as Nate shot her a rather confused look a great idea came to mind and he went with it.
"Yeah, I can get my friend to take us in his Limo. We travel in class" He smiled to Blair rather honestly, for the first time all day, and it was infectious as she couldn't help smile with equal sincerity to happiness, even if they were due to different concepts.
"Oh that's just wonderful. I told Harold you'd make friends here easily" Eleanor clapped her hands together in cheer as they continued their meal with less small talk and more business related topics.
"Oh Daddy, I was meant to call him. He's probably worried that I havn't yet. If you could please excuse me" Blair got up and grabbed her phone, reminding herself to also reactivate her American number as well.
"So what are you doing after lunch?" Nate turned and asked Serena. He wasn't going to just contemplate on which of the two girls he liked more. Blair was Chuck's, he saw her first. Besides he definitely liked Serena. Didn't he?
"Not much, I'll see what Blair wants to do. You know, go shopping. Maybe get a few drinks" She listed her possibilities and Nate's ears perked up
"Oh, we could go to the Palace. I'm sure Chuck would love to have company" Nate was rather happy of himself now, knowing he might actually pull the plan off.
"Chuck?" Serena questioned his choice in friends. The two have been best friends for a rather long time, but was he really going expect herself and Blair to hang out with them together. She didn't mind Nate, he was actually kind of cute, but Chuck. He was just vile.
"Yeah it would be nice" Nate quipped to look up at Blair coming back to sit. "How about it Blair? Want to go hang out at the Palace after lunch?" he made sure to not speak over their parents' conversation. Who would want to know their kids are hanging out in a hotel, let alone one with Chuck Bass.
"Oh, well I'm actually pretty tired" Blair responded looking over to Serena who seemed like it too after such a long night.
"Yeah, I think I might just want to head to sleep too if Blair's gonna call it a day" Serena added and to Nate's disappointment, he didn't have either of them now. His phone buzzed, and as if he knew, Chuck had text him to see how things were going.
"It'll be just for a couple of hours. Just a few drinks. Nothing major" Nate explained as he reinstated his proposal with more reasons to go. The two looked over each other. Blair surely wanted to spend more time with Nate, but she did feel rather exhausted. She studied Serena who was dulled by the matter. "Their free" Nate added and Serena seemed to smile at the thought. She didn't get drunk the previous night, maybe she could this one. Besides, Nate seemed to be a good catch.
"Sure" Serena was the first to state her approval of the situation. How could she even imagine having to deal with Chuck when she was sober?
"Really?" Nate was honestly surprised that his attempts worked. He looked over to Blair to see her smiling. God he loved her smile, and the innocent dimples on her cheeks.
"Alright, but just for a couple of hours" Blair added, attempting sensibility in the situation. She just got invited to have drinks with Nate. She honestly thought it would be harder since she knew how the girls looked like here. Especially Serena, but he was smiling at her, and if he wanted Serena he would have been dating her already, right?
"Of course, of course" Nate responded, not wanting to pressure them. He made quick work on his phone, and grinned with pride to be able to score with Serena, or maybe even Blair.
