Apparently, I accidently forgot to hit save when I removed this from Complete to In-Progress... But this story is still In-Progress, sooo, sorry about that.. This chapter, is Nate's POV again..Hope you enjoy and, thanks so much for all the awesome feedback so far!

Nate has always known that Serena was perfect, perfect for him that is. He knows she's not the most perfect girl in the world, but that works, because he's far from perfect himself. It's just that, they work together, in a way that he doesn't work with other girls. She makes him feel happy, and real, and safe, and excited, and a lot of other adjectives that Blair uses that he really doesn't understand. She's just Serena, and it has always been enough for him, because his being Nate, has always been enough for her.

And really, he's doing okay with this whole friend thing. He gets that it's something he has to do, and he can handle that. The truth is, it's better than what he deserves, or expected, so he's cool with going with it. He's just glad, that she undid the whole picking Dan thing, because now, he thinks maybe he has a real shot again. Still there are times, like this morning, when they came back to his place at 3 a.m. after a concert and she insisted on sleeping over, that being just Serena's friend, isn't all that easy.

He's in his bed, watching her sleep, and all he can think about is how this could be so, so perfect. She's wearing his favorite pajama pants, and the Giants shirt he bought a few weeks back when they went to watch them play. Her hair is falling around her face and she looks like a sleeping angel. He could watch her forever, because there is nothing more beautiful, than the girl splayed out beside him. He yawns and sits up in the bed, letting his feet hit the floor as quiet as possible. If he is going to have any chance of staying awake today, he needs to start on his caffeine now.

As he walks to his door, he looks back at her; at a sight he's seen so many times before and sighs. Serena is hugging his pillow, sleeping sound, and all Nate can think, is that this should be a permanent thing again.

He stretches his arms as he walks out of the room, and lets out another tired yawn.

"I take it Serena slept over Nathaniel?"

His head jerks up and he sees Chuck sitting in front of him in a bright crimson and purple robe, holding a scotch in his hand. "Yeah, we came in late from the concert."

"I see." Chuck nods.

"No you don't," Nate sighs shaking his head, "Nothing happened, nothing at all."

"Yes, I believe I established that point when I said that Serena slept over," Chuck smirks. "It was rather obvious that the two of you are still doing this pathetic platonic dance of yours."

"It's what Serena wants," Nate groans falling on the couch with a thud.

"And you are more than happy to oblige her?" Chuck asks.

"It's the only thing I can do," Nate frowns. "It's not like I was even her first choice when she wanted someone. I'm not even sure I deserve to be her first choice."

"If you're suggesting that Dan Humphrey is more suitable for my stepsister than you are, then you are not the man I thought you were." Chuck drawls out slowly.

"He believed in her when we didn't."

"Dan Humphrey will nod and agree with everything Serena says if he thinks that will give him another chance with her, Nathaniel. That doesn't mean he understands anything about her."

"He's not a bad guy…."

"He's common, and he doesn't belong with our kind." Chuck frowns.

"Someone's been spending time with Blair again," Nate smirks.

"What I do with my time is none of your concern."

Nate rolls his eyes, "Whatever, but for the record, you and Blair should give it another shot, like a real shot.. It just works, the two of you, kind of like me and Serena," he shrugs.

"You're talking like a five year old girl that believes Disney movies are reality, Nate. It truly breaks my heart to see that Serena has turned you into such a pathetic sap."

"Serena hasn't turned me into anything," Nate frowns standing to his feet. He's about to speak again, defend his feelings, but a pounding at the door stops him.

He walks swiftly to the door, hoping who ever is at the door doesn't wake up Serena. When he opens it, he finds Dan, standing in front of him tapping his foot nervously.

"Man, what are you doing here?"

"Have you heard from Serena?" He asks as he pushes past him and walks in. "We were suppose to have breakfast hours ago, but she never showed, and I've been calling and texting for hours and she hasn't answered. I called Blair and she said she never came home last night, and for me to call you, but I did, and you didn't answer either…" Dan rambles.

"Dude, stop, breathe, and listen," Nate speaks shaking his head. "Serena is fine."

"Yeah? Wait, how do you know?"

"She's here." Nate speaks slowly.

"Here?" Dan asks. "Here now?"

Nate watches as his eyes get wide, and turns back to see Chuck smirking from his seat. "Dude, it's no big deal. We went to this concert last night, and got in late, so she just decided to crash here."

"She just crashed here?"

"Yeah, she's in bed now," Nate nods. "Her phone died last night, and I guess mine is on silent or something. It's all cool though."

"So she stayed here…." Dan begins and then stops.

Nate watches as Dan looks around, his mind obviously spinning. He knows Dan wants to know what happened; it's obvious from the look on his face. "Think I said that already dude…"

"Natie…Is someone here?"

Nate's head turns, and he's sure Dan's does to, as he sees Serena stepping out of his bedroom, still in his pajama's yawning.

"Dan?" She questions wiping her eyes groggily.

"We were supposed to have breakfast….And you didn't show, so I was worried…" Dan begins.

"Oh." She speaks. "I'm sorry, we just got in so late, and I was so tired, so we just fell asleep," she begins. "And my phone totally died on the way home."

"And the two of you," Dan speaks gesturing between Nate and Serena, "Just fell asleep? Together, in Nate's bed?"

"That's exactly what we did," Nate speaks stepping over to Serena.

Nate watches as Chuck stands to his feet slowly and steps over to where they are, "Forgive me for intruding, but I didn't realize you were currently dating my sister Humphrey," he speaks. "As I recall, she decided to forgo dating you so that she could have time to herself, correct?"

"No one asked you Bass," Dan huffs.

"I just wanted to make sure all parties knew where they stood," Chuck smiles, "Now, I have a important business meeting to attend. Serena, Nathanial, I will see you both tonight at Blair's dinner party," Chuck adds, "Dan, goodbye."

Nate has to hold back a smile as Chuck nods in his direction and walks back into his bedroom shutting the door behind him.

"Look Dan, nothing happened last night," Serena frowns. "I'll make breakfast up to you soon though okay?"

"It's fine Serena, I was just worried," Dan speaks lowering his head.

It's a lie, Nate knows that everything is far from fine as far as Dan is concerned. Even if he believes them, he doesn't like what he's hearing. It's almost like he can hear Blair in his head, telling him that this would happen. Sometimes, he swears he thinks Blair is like a physic or a genius because she just really knew her stuff sometimes.

"So we're cool?" He hears Serena ask Dan.

"Yeah, we're cool," Dan nods.

"How did you even know I was here?" Serena asks.

"When I called Blair, she told me to ask Nate where you were," Dan shrugs.

Of course she did, Nate thinks to himself. Leave it to Blair to stir things up with just a few words. "Like I said man, guess my phone was on silent. Sorry for freaking you out."

"Yeah, sure, no problem," Dan nods. "Anyway, I guess I"ll get out of here. Unless you want me to wait on you?" He asks Serena.

She looks from him to Nate and frowns, "I still need to grab a shower, I'll just text you when I get home," she speaks with a tiny smile. "That okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Dan breaths. "I'll talk to you then."

Nate watches as Dan turns to leave, barely acknowledging him with a nod and frowns as he shuts the door behind him. "Wow." He says under his breath.

"I don't think he believed us," Serena groans.

"Yeah, it was a little awkward…" Nate answers honestly. "But we told the truth."

"We did."

"Do you think he's mad?" Serena asks.

"He'll get over it S," he promises. "Besides, Chuck was right, you're not dating him, you know? Don't worry about it."

"Natie…I'm sorry."

He looks at her and realizes that her eyes suddenly look sad. "Sorry?"

"For kissing Dan…that night… when we were together." She whispers. "I, I'm sorry about that."

He wants to say a lot of things, like how it doesn't matter anymore, because all he we wants to do now is forget everything and kiss her again like before. He wants to tell her, that they can fix anything, everything, but he knows he can't do that, not yet."

"Totally forgotten," he says instead. "A lot of things happened, but it's all over now."

"Yeah?"

"I told you, I'm here Serena, I'm going to always be here." He smiles.

"Yeah, I just wish sometimes…" her voice trails and his heart beats faster suddenly, but then she stops and looks up at him and smiles nervously, "Thanks Natie."

"For what?" Nate asks.

"For being you," She answers simply. "For letting us, be us again."

He smiles and wraps his arms around her waist, "S, who else would we be, if we weren't us?"

"It's just nice." She smiles warmly relaxing against him, "Last night was awesome."

"Yeah, it really was."

"Almost like old times," she grins.

"Something like that maybe," he smiles. "Not quite like old times though…" He adds with a wink.

"Natie!" She speaks smacking him on the arm. "I'm hungry," she adds without missing a beat.

He just laughs at her, "We have Pop Tarts," he smiles grabbing her hand, "And those chocolate filled Toaster Strudel's you like…" he adds as he pulls her to the kitchen.

"Do you have Chex Mix?" She asks with a grin.

"For breakfast?" Nate asks.

"I like it," she speaks with a shrug.

"Yeah S, I have Chex Mix," he chuckles. "If Chuck didn't have it tossed out…"

"He's so weird," Serena giggles.

He just shakes his head and agrees. He thinks later he'll make a phone call to Blair, make sure she doesn't have any more surprises up her sleeve concerning his love life. Or you know explain to her that next time, he'd really like a warning first. But for now, Serena's hand is in his and she's talking about her favorite types of Chex Mix, and he thinks that maybe, just maybe it's a step in the right direction.