Serena woke up in a daze, she was in a hotel room, a really dingy low class hotel room that much she could tell without actually opening her eyes, the feel of the blanket beneath her fingers told her everything.

She felt sick, the last thing she remembered was Nate and Dan, Dan told her he gives up and she looked at Nate and he was done as well, she saw Blair who said a whole lot of things that didn't make sense then she ran into Erik and she could barely remember what she said to make her little brother frown the way he did, after that she just needed to be unseen so she put on her mask and now she was here.

Summoning all her strength she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings, the walls looked as if they were going to fall apart, they were old and they had ugly brown stains all over them. The sheets she was laying on were itchy, they were a dull blue colour that reminded her of the blankets they used in a war movie she watched with Nate a while ago. The pale green curtains were open it was dark outside and the window was wet and foggy she could see a red light flashing outside.

Her mind was hazy and she knew she was drugged. She had been in this situation many times before, the only difference was before she took drugs willingly, got drunk to the point of not remembering the night. The reason she changed was to avoid waking up in that haze to rid herself of ever feeling that amnesia. She hated that right now there may be an unknown man around that she'd slept with just because. She felt sleep taking her again she didn't have the strength to fight it yet, before she lost consciousness she saw a flash of blond hair and heard a familiar voice that she thought she'd never have to hear again.

"Are you sure this is her apartment?" Blair asked, for the fourth time as the climbed the stairs, the elevator was out of order.

"Yes I'm sure, I won't lie to you again," Vanessa said quietly as they reached a door, she pulled out a key from her pocket and opened the door.

"Oh my God," Blair said as Nate switched on the lights. She grabbed his hand and found Chucks keeping them as close to her as possible as she looked at the board in front of her, a huge picture of Serena's mug shot was at the centre of a mass of newspaper clippings and Gossip Girl blasts about Serena and Nate mainly, articles with her and Chuck and if you looked for it a few of Dan as well.

"I don't know about that board we didn't use it," Vanessa said genuinely surprised.

Dan went over to it and lightly tugged at the end of the board, it wasn't attached to the wall so he removed it to find the chart they were using underneath, "So that was the one you were using?" he asked and she nodded.

Again the picture of Serena in jail was in the centre, her mother, Blair, Nate and Dan surrounded her. The strings from Serena to each of them were cut symbolising that they succeeded in severing the ties with those who meant the most to her.

"Why isn't Chuck on there?" Blair asked softly, she felt sick to her stomach.

"Juliet felt that if you were angry enough at Serena then Chuck would be as well besides she pulled the curtain up on the both of you," Vanessa said.

"Takes a lot to make me that upset, especially at Serena. You didn't take into account the bond between siblings did you, even Erik isn't up there," Chuck commented, Blair was too busy studying the boards to make much sense of what Vanessa and Chuck were saying, she wanted to say something to Vanessa but no words were coming out of her mouth.

"Not that either of them really count you as a sibling but as long as Lily was out then Erik wouldn't matter," Vanessa said shooting Chuck a deadly look that he only understood after remembering that Vanessa was referring to Erik's hatred of him because of Jenny and that Vanessa herself was very close to the young Humphrey.

"I don't know about Erik but I do know that Serena still counts him as her brother and she would go straight to Chuck if she couldn't come to me or Blair, a lot of the times she went to him first," Nate said seriously, the effects of the weed wearing off. "As she always has," he added to make Vanessa understand that Serena has all of them.

Dan felt like more of an outsider than he did three years ago as he stared at the four people in the room with him, Blair was standing between Nate and Chuck holding onto their hands as if her life depended on it, her eyes fixed on the boards of pictures, she looked like she was either going to pass out or throw up at any second. All he knew was that he had never seen her as vulnerable as she looked right now. Nate and Chuck only stared at the boards for a few seconds before turning to each other, neither said a thing but it seemed as if they were having an intense conversation. Vanessa was looking at the three people they could never fully fit in with no matter how hard they tried with an unreadable expression which scared him because he could always read her.

He was so caught up with thoughts of getting through to his best friend that he didn't realise when everyone started to move again until Vanessa's voice snapped him back to reality. "Coming Dan?" she asked and he nodded following her out the door the other three had already gone through. As they walked out he noticed that Blair was still clutching both Nate and Chuck's hands but she seemed to regain her composure. The three of them were huddled together whispering so instead of standing aimlessly outside the apartment building he walked up to Vanessa down crouched down next to her on the wet pavement.

"Is this because of what happened with us? You can't blame Serena for that V, you just couldn't trust me and I get it but all this, really?" Dan asked.

"No Dan, you don't get it, it's because of exactly this, no matter what happens, no matter what she does, somebody else always takes the blame but never her, she can't choose yet you still defend her and I hate it, I hate taking the blame and watching while little miss sunshine gets everything. I trust you I just don't trust her and when you're with her you change, you'll do anything to be with her even if that means lying to me," Vanessa said standing up and walking away from him. Dan stayed there for a few seconds longer shaking his head at how much Vanessa had changed and how she accused him of changing.

"Caleb just texted me an address," Chuck said to two of his three best friends. "He tracked Serena's phone, she's in this area actually."

"Lets leave them, they seem to be having an important conversation and I really think that if I am around Vanessa any longer I'll be put in jail for murder," Blair said.

"Blair we can't just leave them here," Nate said.

"Yes we can," Blair argued.

"I don't care let's just go before she moves or switches her phone off," Chuck said snapping his phone shut. He walked to the limo and opened the door for Blair and Nate not waiting for Dan and Vanessa, he slid in and smirked at Blair's face when they followed him in.

The limo ride was quiet aside from Chuck's quiet replies to his PI on the phone. Nate and Blair were watching him, exchanging worried looks when Chuck's tone changed. Vanessa and Dan were staring at each other.

"Ok we're here so now do we go knocking on every door?" Dan asked looking at the motel they were at.

"Of course not," Chuck said wondering how little attention this boy has paid to their schemes as he led them to the elevator.

"This better be safe," Blair said holding onto Chucks arm.

When the doors opened she was the first one out followed by Chuck and Nate and finally Dan and Vanessa who still hadn't said anything to each other.

"This is the room number he gave me," Chuck said looking at Nate and nodding to the door.

"Couldn't we just try knocking," Dan asked as Nate walked forward and tried the handle, when the door didn't open he took the hair clip Blair handed him and expertly unlocked the door.

"Surprises are always fun," Nate said then he noticed Dan's questioning face. "Alcohol cabinets are harder to crack then this trust me."

"Can we go in already?" Blair asked impatiently, Nate rolled his eyes at her and opened the door. For the second time that night he stopped dead in his tracks behind Blair who was gripping their hands, only difference was this time he couldn't just stand there.

A/N thank you guys for the amazing reviews! This update was only supposed to come out on Wed but I think its done and also Volleyball10 was getting impatient with me lol please enjoy and review and I promise Serenate starts soon and then it may get a little mushy hehehe tell me what you think :D