Chapter 3

"Is it true?"

He gave her a look before furrowing his eyebrows and saying, "No. Of course not. I can't believe that you would even believe that. I thought you had more trust in me, but what you're saying right now really makes it look like you don't trust me at all."

"It's hard to trust and believe you when everybody else thinks it's true," she told him.

"Well, what they say shouldn't matter," he said, folding his arms. "You should have enough trust in me to believe me when I say that I didn't cheat on you, and I never will. Why is this so hard to believe for you, Serena?"

"Because you've always been so close with her, and I've always just been the jealous girlfriend!" Serena cried. "I don't know where we stand anymore, Dan."

"We stand... right here," he whispered, kissing her lips gently. "You're the only person I love, and you're crazy if you think I'm cheating on you with Vanessa. She's like a sister to me. Would you date your sister?"

"So nothing's going on between you two?" Serena asked.

"Obviously not!" he laughed, cupping her cheeks and caressing them gently. "I'm never going to date Vanessa. Never ever. You're mine, and you're the only person that I want to date. I can promise you that, van der Woodsen."

She smiled an adorable smile before kissing his cheek softly.

"Okay, I believe you now," she said, grinning widely.

"Should have believed me the first second I told you," Dan said, still cupping her cheeks. "No matter how mad I am at you, ever, I will always be in love with you, and I will never want to be with anyone else. And that definitely means I'll never want to be with Vanessa."

"I'm sorry. I love you, Dan," Serena said, giggling as she hugged him tight.

"S, are you sure that a cheap, low-light dinner is what is going to win Dan's heart back for you?" Blair asked, folding her arms. "The way I would have an explaining dinner is making it big and grand. He won't be able to turn it down if it's grand."

"Dan's from Brooklyn, B. I know him. He hates it when everything is the rich lifestyle way. I learned that on our first date," Serena said with a laugh. "Pool tables are our thing, and so are cheap dinners. I'll explain to him that the Carter photo was just date stamped to recently, and hopefully he'll believe me, and then we can have a fun night together playing pool and-"

"Having sex?" Blair joked, laughing.

"You should be leaving now," she said, shaking her head.

"Well, a poor person date is what you want, even when you have all the money you need, then suit yourself," Blair said, shrugging it off.

"It's not about the money, B. It never has been with Dan," Serena confidently said. "He's always been in it for the love of it, and never the money. And maybe because we don't need a rich, classy dinner to have fun... that's one of the reasons that I love him so much."

"Okay, I did not ask for sap time," Blair said, shaking her head. "Chuck and I have plans ourselves. Don't do anything dangerous."

"Thank you for coming, by the way," Serena said, kissing Blair's cheek before she left.

Dan was walking with Vanessa to his room, and then his phone buzzed. He sighed when he found out that it was a text from Serena saying that she wanted to meet for dinner that night. He wanted to go, but after the Carter thing, he was pissed off. Of course he loved her, but it was hard when he was always just the poor guy from Brooklyn. Rich, handsome guys wanted to be with Serena, just like Carter, and he would never be good enough for Serena. Serena would always want more. Average girls like Tiffany had no problem making out with guys like Dan in public. They didn't require high-class guys.

"It's her again, isn't it?" Vanessa asked.

"It is," Dan answered. "Maybe I should go. Maybe I should hear her side of the story. She always heard mine."

"Dan, when are you going to get the message?" Vanessa said, sighing. "She is Serena van der Woodsen. He's Carter Baizen. They're both rich, they're both classy. She may claim that she wants to give you guys a try again, but think about it... she really just wants to kiss a new guy every night. It might be Carter today, and then Nate Archibald tomorrow. I knew Nate and I weren't going to work out because he's... Nate. You and I, Dan... We're just the poor, disrespected kids from Brooklyn. People like Nate and Serena will never give us the same respect that they give their socially elite friends."

"Vanessa," Dan said, frowning. "I dated Serena for so long, and she's not like that. She's always been faithful. Maybe it's far-fetched, but I have just a speck of hope that thinks that maybe Gossip Girl is messing with me, and Serena didn't kiss Carter before we were about to get back together."

"Gossip Girl doesn't always twist the truth. Sometimes she wants to reveal the truth so scandals happen. And it is so Serena to kiss Carter Baizen," Vanessa said.

"So I should tell Serena that I'm not coming for dinner?" Dan asked. "Maybe I should hear her out."

"Oh, and listen to her twist the truth and say that she didn't really kiss Carter, and it was a doctored photo?" Vanessa asked, raising her eyebrows. "Dan, she's going to lure you back in with her lies."

"She was a good girlfriend," Dan defended.

"I'm done playing games. If you want to be with somebody that is always going to hurt you in the end, then text Serena back and tell her that you'll meet her," Vanessa said, sighing. "But you should know. There's a good person who wants to be with you. Someone who's honest, and won't lie to you about stupid things. Someone who will always love you."

"Tiffany? I don't think she loves me-" Dan began.

"No, Dan. It's me. I love you," Vanessa confessed. "We've been friends forever, and it's been killing me. I liked Nate, but I've always wanted to be with you. When Nate broke up with me, and when you weren't going to get back together with Serena, I thought that maybe you and I have a shot. Do we?"

"Vanessa, come on," he said, sighing. "You wouldn't want to be with me when you know that I'm still in love with Serena."

"But I do," Vanessa told him. "Things would be easy for us. We're so close already. You're the best guy I've ever known, and you deserve way better than someone who will lie to you all the time. Just say yes already."

"Vanessa..." he muttered.

"I love you unconditionally, but Serena will always have her own world going on. Our worlds? They're combined. Your world is my world," she said, and leaned in to kiss his lips gently.

He didn't kiss back at first, but thinking about what Vanessa said- Serena was definitely going to hurt him again. How could he know that there wouldn't ever be another Carter incident? Vanessa had been his friend for so long. He couldn't say he was in love with her, but he wanted to give her a try. Maybe she was better than Serena. Serena was the perfect girlfriend to him, maybe because he had never had a girlfriend before. With Vanessa being his second girlfriend, he had experience. And maybe experience was what he needed for a perfect relationship.

"I'll take that as a yes," Vanessa said, smiling and grabbing Dan's hand.

Serena sat alone at her pool table dinner. It was supposed to be a perfect, magical night. She was expecting Dan to come over, for her to explain that the whole Carter thing was a set up, and she would never hurt him like that, and then they would have such a good time. They could eat, play pool, and maybe even end the night with some romantic bedtime. She would be lying if she said she didn't miss having sex with Dan, as weird as it was to admit in her brain. To be honest, she missed everything with Dan. Not just the kissing and the sex, but the talking, the cuddling, the laughing... everything. Everything was amazing with Dan. Their break up was nothing but a mistake.

There was a knock on Serena's door. She rushed over and opened it, but was baffled when she saw Carter Baizen standing there. He looked sorry, but she didn't understand why he came. Was it because of the photo? He actually came all the way to see her because of a photo of them kissing from the summer being posted on Gossip Girl as if they kissed recently? He was probably somewhere exotic in the world, and he came back for a photo?

"Carter."

"Hi, Serena," he said, scratching his head. "I saw the Gossip Girl post."

"I figured," Serena muttered. "But that doesn't explain what you're doing here, Carter."

"I wanted to know if you're alright," Carter told her. "Are you on a date?"

"It was supposed to be... for..." she began.

"Dan?" Carter guessed.

She nodded her head, and almost started crying. Instantly, Carter pulled her into a hug, rubbing her sweet blonde hair.

"It's alright, Serena," he said, pulling back from the hug. "Dan is a real jerk. He didn't believe you about the photo, and then he already starts dating another girl? That's pathetic and messed up. I can't believe he would break your heart like that."

"Wait, he's dating Tiffany?" Serena asked, shocked. "He told me he's not! He said they were just kissing."

"Two girls, then?" Carter asked, baffled. "Serena, I didn't hear about him dating this Tiffany girl. It was someone named Vanessa Abrams or something like that."

"Vanessa Abrams?" Serena asked, shaking her head. "You're making a mistake. You probably think they're dating, but they're not. Dan and Vanessa are just really close friends. They've been friends since they were little kids, so it's easy to think that their closeness is more than a friendship."

"Well, they posted a picture where Dan is kissing her forehead, and Vanessa just updated her status to say 'in a relationship with Dan Humphrey', so I'm guessing that this time, they're definitely more than just friends," Carter told her.

"He told me he would never date Vanessa!" Serena cried.

"You didn't belong with a jerk like Dan, anyways," Carter told her. "I came all the way from Paris for you. I would do anything for you, Serena. I want to be with you. I was desperately hoping that we would happen over the summer, but you made it clear that you just wanted to be with Dan, and I was only a rebound. That's why I jetted off to Paris. I hated being rejected by you. I still have feelings for you, Serena."

"Carter, I know you didn't come here just to check up on me," Serena said.

"You're right, I didn't. Of course that was a part of it, but I also wanted to ask you out," Carter confessed. "I had to tell you how I felt before you made a mistake with anyone else. Make a mistake with me instead, but I'll make sure you don't regret this mistake. Give me a chance to prove to you that I can be the god damn best boyfriend you could ask for. I'll make sure you're always happy. I'll work my ass off to be the best boyfriend I can. Will you give me a shot already?"

"No, I'm sorry, Carter," Serena said, sighing. "It's really sweet of you to come all the way here for me, but I'm not going to date you while I'm still in love with Dan. It wouldn't be fair for either of us."

"Funny, because that ass is no good for you. If he's really in love with you, then why would he date Vanessa the minute you and him don't work out?" Carter asked, folding his arms. "You missed a chance to be with someone who actually cares about you, and is willing to try. But no, you pick Dan, the guy who won't even give you a chance to explain yourself, and automatically assumes you're a slut. Rich choice, Serena. I'm leaving."

She felt bad for rejecting Carter, but she wasn't going to be with him when she knew her heart still belonged to Dan. Unfortunately, Dan wasn't smart enough to turn Vanessa down when his heart still belonged to Serena. He was so blind that he didn't give the person he loved most a chance to explain.