"So how are we today?" Tori glanced around the tiny office, trying to look anywhere but at the woman seated in front of her, hating that her father still believed she needed to be there.

"Fine," Tori replied nonchalantly, crossing her arms over her chest. It had been six months now since she had started visiting the Ostroff Center, six months since the incident that become the second most life changing experience of her teenage life. The day that Serena left New York for Connecticut, was the beginning of a downward spiral for Tori, something that only she and her father knew about. Not even Blair knew. Not even Chuck, her own brother, knew. They didn't even know what had transpired all those months ago.

"That is what you said last week Victoria and that was as far as we got. Are you sure you're not feeling anything else?" the therapist asked, gripping onto her pen in anticipation, waiting for the moment that Tori would finally let her in. That day wasn't going to be today.

"What other possible feeling could I have?" Tori questioned innocently, checking her phone, and seeing she still had another fifty minutes of this torture.

"I heard that your old friend, Serena van der Woodsen is back in town. From what I understand, it was her departure that start you on the path leading you here, to my office," the therapist pointed out, taking down notes, of what, Tori was not sure.

"Yes, she is back in town, and yes I have spoken to her. If you must know, we will be seeing each other tonight, so she can catch up with myself and Blair," Tori explained, typing a text absentmindedly to Blair.

"Are you sure that's all you want out of your meeting? You're not looking for an explanation?" the therapist enquired, managing to gain Tori's attention for a split second, before she went back to her phone.

"I don't need an explanation. She left, she came back, and it's as simple as that. I'm just ready for things to go back to normal," Tori smiled, meeting the therapist's eyes, hoping she'd believe her.

"But things can never really be normal can they? She's been gone for a year now, and yet, you're acting like she went away on a quick holiday, like nothing has changed," she observed, continuing to take notes down on her clipboard. Tori always wondered whether she was actually taking notes, or if she just did it to make her patients nervous.

"Nothing has changed. The only thing that is different now is that I can actually stand to be around Blair, compared to how it used to be. I used to be the outsider, but now Serena…" Tori trailed off, regretting answering at all.

"But now Serena is the outsider?" the therapist finished for her, watching her client intently.

"Okay yes, Serena is the outsider now, and I kind of think she deserves it, for putting me through what she did. Is that what you want to hear? That everything has changed since she's been gone. That, because she left, I couldn't control my wild side well enough to keep myself out of trouble, that every day I missed my best friend so much that I thought it would be a fun idea to swallow a whole bottle of pills, just so I could feel something, so I could have the chance to finally let myself go?! Is that what you were trying to get out of me?!" Tori shouted, shooting up from her chair so hard and fast that she knocked her chair to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

"Please calm down Victoria. Please sit down, take a deep breath, and we can continue having a civilized conversation," the therapist crooned, putting her pen and clipboard in her lap as a sign of surrender. After a few deep breaths, Tori pulled her chair back up into a standing position and sat back down, checking that her hair was okay before she said anything.

"From the day Serena left, everything changed. She was the one person in this world that I could trust with anything. I hate my father, because he's never around, and although Chuck is my brother and I love him, I trust him as far as I can throw him. I have other friends, I have plenty of friends, but…" she trailed off again, having trouble finishing her sentence, rather than not wanting to.

"But they were never Serena. It's understandable Victoria, everyone has that one friend that can never be replaced, it doesn't matter your age. So can you tell me now how you're really feeling about Serena's return? How it is affecting you?" the therapist asked, placing her pen and clipboard on her desk, giving Tori a feeling of relief as she gave her answer.

"Honestly? I don't know how to feel. On the one hand, I couldn't be happier that she has finally come back. But on the other hand, I was just getting used to the fact that she may never come back, I'd finally moved on. There's also the fact that there is more than one reason, more than what happened between us that night, that she left. I need an explanation. No, I want an explanation. I need to know how she could run away from her problems, when I had to stay behind and try to explain why she left so suddenly. By coming back, she's made the last year seem like it counts for nothing. What if I fall back into how I used to be because of her? What if I do what I did before, and end up having to add yet another lie to the long list that I tell my friends every day? I just don't know how I'm going to handle it," Tori finally admitted, accepting a tissue from her therapist, using it to dab away the tears starting to stain her cheeks.

"Maybe by going to see her tonight, you're searching out closure. By finally getting the explanation you've been waiting for over a year, you can finally move past this, move on with your life, and not let the past control our future," the therapist suggested, giving Tori a warm smile.

"I suppose that could work," Tori agreed, returning the smile. The pair continued to talk about Tori's week for the rest of the session, just seeming to pass the time, rather than delving any deeper into Tori's life, considering it seemed more progress had been made than in any of the other sessions that year.

"I hope you'll come in again next week, so you can tell me how your meeting with Serena went," the therapist said with a smile, shaking Tori's hand as she led her to the door.

"I'm looking forward to it," Tori smiled, stopping in the doorframe, a thought coming to your mind. "I know this may be a random thing to ask, considering how long I've been seeing you, but what is your name? I've only ever called you the therapist in my mind. I never really bothered to think about it until now."

"Dr Grayson, but you may call Samantha. Only outside of office hours of course," Dr. Grayson laughed, waving to Tori as she walked away down the hall. Tori walked away with a smile on her face, the first time she had felt somewhat elated after leaving her therapist's office. She continued down the hall and took a right, heading down to the open space just in front of the elevators. Instead of heading to the elevators to leave, she instead walked over to the nearby reception desk, smiling at the woman sitting at a computer behind it.

"Good afternoon Bernice, how are you today?" Tori asked, smiling down at the woman. Ever since Tori had started coming to Ostroff, she had seen Bernice almost every time she came, getting to know her every time she waited to go visit Dr. Grayson.

"I'm having a lovely day actually. My son proposed to his girlfriend and she accepted. They're getting married in July next year," Bernice replied happily, turning her attention away from the computer to look at Tori.

"He took his time to propose, that's for sure," Tori laughed, glancing over at the nearby door, wondering if she should go in or not.

"If you want to go in and say hi, you know you're welcome to. He's been so much happier since his sister came to visit him last night," Bernice told her, surprising Tori.

"Serena was here?" Tori questioned in disbelief, stepping away to move to the door.

"Why don't you go ask him and find out?" Tori stepped up to the door and gave a light knock, waiting for permission to enter before going inside, smiling at the youngest van der Woodsen upon entry.

"Tori, I wasn't expecting to see you today," Eric greeted happily walking over to give Tori a hug, which she returned.

"I actually came out of my therapy session on time today, and had some time to kill, so I thought I'd come in and say hey. When I heard you were in here, I knew I'd have to come see you sooner or later," she told him, following behind him to sit on the nearby chair while he sat on the bed.

"Are you sure you didn't just come here to ask about Serena?" Eric laughed, not seeming to care about the answer either way.

"I may have had an ulterior motive, but I am glad to see you Eric, I always enjoy talking to you, even long before you were ever in this place," Tori admitted, taking a hold of Eric's hand and giving it a squeeze.

"How did you find out I was in here?" Eric questioned curiously, pulling away to lean back on his hands.

"The joy of coming here every week, I have a few connections. Let's just say I could give Gossip Girl a run for her money with the amount of people I know," Tori winked, the pair laughing at her comment.

"So have you seen her yet?" he asked, once the laughter had died down.

"I have, twice now, and I will be seeing her again tonight with Blair actually. Hopefully I'll finally get out of her why she needed to leave, and why she chose now to come back," Tori replied, a sad smile touched her pink lips.

"Well, I can answer the second half of that. She came back for me, for the reason I'm even here at all," Eric admitted, pulling up the bandage on his arm, showing her fresh scars.

"Please don't tell me you did that to yourself," Tori whispered, as if saying it out loud would make the situation seem more real somehow.

"I'll tell you if you tell me why you need therapy," Eric offered with a smile, bringing a smile to Tori's own lips.

"Okay fine, don't tell me, it's your business. I just hope that you-" Tori began to say, before the door was thrown open, allowing entry to none other than Serena, leaving Tori in stunned shock as her friend rushed into the room.

"I've talked to your nurse, and I'm kidnapping you," Serena said, pulling open a drawer to rifle through Eric's clothes.

"Serena, there's someone else-" Eric began to say, being the next to be cut off by his sister.

"We're going to Bendall's, but it'll be just for an hour, I swear, I had a really bad-" Serena stopped in the middle of her sentence, finally realizing that Tori was also in the room.

"Hey Serena, long time no see," Tori joked nervously, standing up from the chair as Eric stood up from the bed.

"What are you doing here?" Serena asked, handing Eric a jacket before turning her attention back to Tori.

"I was just in the neighbourhood, thought I'd drop in and say hello to Eric. I'm assuming it's a secret that he's even here at all, so I promise I won't say anything," Tori swore, giving Serena a weak smile, exchanging a glance with Eric.

"Why don't you come with us then? Give us a chance to talk before tonight," Serena suggested, walking with Eric over to the door. Before Tori had a chance to answer, her phone buzzed in her bag, so she reached in a pulled it out, seeing a message from her father.

"I just don't think I'm ready to talk yet Serena. Let's just worry about our meeting tonight, and you go out and spend time with Eric. I know that's what you've been waiting to do ever since you got back," Tori smiled, walking past the pair over to the elevators.

"Tori, I promise that we'll get back to normal," Serena told her, standing behind her as they entered into the elevator.

"It's going to take more than a quick chat at the bar to get over a year of separation Serena," Tori told her, stepping into the elevator, shooting her a look to wait for the next elevator, her stare unwavering as the doors closed shut.

Looks like B isn't the only one with her claws out today. Watch out S, you know what they say about a rich girl scorned.


Another day, another chapter, looks like Tori just isn't ready to forgive Serena that easily.

What do you guys think of Tori so far? I'd like an opinion on her and her back story so far ^_^

Next up, is Tori's meeting with her father, Bart the Basshole himself, and then right after that, her meeting with Serena.

Hope you're all as pumped as I am for this story to move along, I'm enjoying writing all of this so much.

Be sure to leave a review, favorite and follow, it would be greatly appreciated ^_^

Until next time :D