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Nate ties off another line and steals a glance at Serena. He's got her on his boat and in his shirt and away from everybody else - and it's still just a little hard to believe. He laughs, teases, "Helpful, much?"

She hands him the bottle of 7-Up-spiked-with-gin she's been drinking from. "I thought you liked doing this stuff," she says innocently.

He grins, checks the knots before taking the bottle. "And thoughtful too." He takes a gulp and then coughs, laughs, "What's in that? A teaspoon of soda?"

"At least two teaspoons," she tells him, winking, before she hooks an arm around his neck and pulls him into a kiss.

He laughs when he leans back, pulls her onto his lap, "So this is basically where my abduction plan ends. Any thoughts?" He wiggles his eyebrows at her.

She tips up the bottom of the bottle, toward his mouth. "Drink more."

"Liquid inspiration," he laughs, swallows. "Okay. It works." He unbuttons one of the buttons on his shirt she's wearing. "I might have another plan."

"Yeah? Enlighten me."

"You," he unbuttons another button, "Me," he smiles, "The non-bikini... and the jacuzzi."

"Hmm." She tilts her head contemplatively. "One of your better ideas, I think."

"I'm on a roll," he teases.

She leaves a trail of kisses against the line of his jaw. "Tell me something."

"Pluto's not a planet anymore."

"Poor Pluto." She sneaks her hands beneath his shirt. "Something else."

"Mhmm," he kisses her and smiles lazily, "America's Cup leads off from Valencia next..."

"Fun." She pushes his shirt upward. "Something better."

He lifts his arms so she can lift it over his head and then yanks open the shirt she's wearing, sends a couple buttons flying and slides it down her arms, "You're amazing..." he mumbles, stares at her for a moment before pulling her closer.

He kisses her collarbone slowly, smiles,"Gorgeous... completely wrong about the best Jell-o flavor..." he tugs lightly at her earlobe with his teeth, whispers, "Everybody knows orange is the best."

She gives his shoulder a gentle shove, murmurs, "That is so not true, Nathaniel Archibald."

"It is so true, Serena Celia van der Woodsen." He kisses the side of her face, works his way back to her mouth.

"Nope, Fitzwilliam."

He tips his head back and laughs. "No fair. I have the ridiculous middle name!"

Serena kisses him. "I think it's cute."

"You're cute. I have to try and keep up, I guess." He kisses her, loves have this privilege back, and then glances beyond her at the ocean. They're not too far out, but he still needs to stay attentive.

"You're already cute. I think we match."

"You're my match," he agrees and then gives her a quick kiss, "I have to adjust the sail." She's on his lap though.

"No, don't think so." She rests her forehead against his.

"We could end up on the Lost island," he teases, rocks them back and forth slowly.

"That's okay." She feels buzzed and silly and happy. "We already ran away."

He laughs softly, whispers, "Everything's right here."

"You said something about a jacuzzi..." She threads her fingers through his hair lazily. "It's okay if we get lost."

"I did..." he murmurs, keeps a hand at her back and slides the other underneath her knees. "Coordinates are for suckers..." he jokes, kisses her cheek before standing up with her in his arms.

She looks into his face. "If you throw me in I will not be pleased."

He grins as he takes her below deck. "What if I drop you in?" He teases, "What then?"

"That's the same exact thing."

"Oh is it," he laughs as he switches the jacuzzi on and heads towards it. It's bubbling up with warm water and he stands over it, peers down and wiggles Serena over the water. "Are you sure?"

"Nate!" She locks her arms around his neck and warns, "I will take you with me."

Nate grins. "Is that supposed to be a threat?" He challenges, takes a step back and then slides right into the water, landing with a splash in a sitting position. "Was kinda the plan," he laughs, splashes her some more.

She splashes him back. "You're still clothed."

He looks down at himself, his pants are completely soaked, and then he grins up at her, "I am. You gonna get on that, van der woodsen...?"

"Nope," she teases, splashing him a little more vigorously before she moves even closer to him and kisses him deeply.

He kisses her like he can't get enough of her, like he'll never get enough. "Still no... mercy," he breathes teasingly against her mouth, blinks his eyes open to watch her.

Serena points into the distance, shivering a little - the sun had disappeared sometime when they weren't really paying attention - and slips her hand into Nate's, cuddling into his side. "Lights," she announces.

He presses a kiss to her wet hair. "Lights are good."

She wraps her arms around him in a hug. "Let's stop."

Nate's pretty sure he has everything he needs on this boat. He hugs her to his side, "What for?"

"I don't know." She presses her face into his shoulder. "Just because we can."

Nate wraps both arms around her and turns them in a circle. "Excellent point," he touches his lips to her hairline, smiles, "We can do anything..."

He kisses her again and then takes her hand and twirls her under his arm so he can move away to shift the sails.

"More booze?" she suggests with a giggle, leaning back against the railing. She tips her head back. "I think I need a sweater."

"Clothes are overrated," he grins at her, tries divide his attention evenly between lines that need to be tied and Serena that's every fantasy he's ever had. Serena's winning.

"I'm cold." She studies the sky. "You're failing at this whole warming-me-up thing."

He laughs. "I'm trying to succeed in not sinking us," he ties off the last line; rushes over to her, "Sorry..." he loops his arms around her waist and pulls her closer, "My priorities are clearly skewed..." he kisses her lightly, smiles, "Help me out."

"Help you out with boat-things?" she asks brightly.

"Not exactly..." He kisses her again, feels her smooth skin under his hands, "'elp me focus..." he mumbles, bites her lip a little, "On... not sinking..."

"And how can I do that?" she asks quietly, steals another kiss.

Nate blinks at her, because- basically, he would need her to stop being Serena. He grins, "Eh, we can swim." He kisses her again.

She giggles into the kiss. "I need clothes. For when we get off the boat. You, too."

"Hm..." he sighs, drops his chin into her shoulder and hugs her. "You do that...?" He suggests softly, "I'll..." he chuckles, "Focus."

"Kay," she agrees, planting a quick kiss on his cheek before she slips below deck again.

He watches her go and then move backs to the navigation panel. He's not really sure where they are, but he's not really worried about it either - they can figure it out when they disembark.

By the time she comes back up, he's maneuvering into a slip. And yeah, kind of shivering. "Maybe there's a little value to clothes," he smiles.

Serena smiles back. She's wearing her jeans again and one of Nate's t-shirts tied at her midriff, and she brought two sweaters with her - she gives one to Nate and slips her arms into the sleeves of the other. "Told ya."

He takes in her outfit, smiling, and then laughs when she hands him a sweater. "Thank you." He puts it on and then waits. It takes him another moment to realize that's it and then he laughs, reaches out and pulls her closer, "Am I making a fashion statement or something?" He teases, nudges his bare knee against her jeans.

"Oh, pants." She laughs, presses her face into his neck to muffle the sound. "Sorry, I forgot."

He laughs again, hugs her against him, "Your subconscious desire to keep me pants-less and at your mercy is showing..."

She steps on his feet gently and then pulls back from the hug. "I want to explore. Go make yourself look decent."

And that is exactly what he does.

He rushes below deck and finishes getting dressed, even runs his fingers through his hair, to comb it down; and then he runs back up, "How do I look?"

He laughs before she can answer though and hops down from the side of the boat onto the dock, holds his arms out to help her down.

She smiles, resting her hands against his shoulders as she hops down onto the dock. She stays close to him for a moment and whispers, by his ear, "Where are we, do you think?"

He whispers back, "East coast... hopefully."

"Hopefully," Serena agrees. She slips her hand into his and tugs him after her as she begins to wander down the dock. "You know, I probably had homework."

He takes her hand, "This is way better than homework..." he snickers a little, "I probably did too. Tomorrow we might getmore homework."

"I don't care," Serena says decisively. She won't regret this.

Nate squeezes her hand. "Me either... homework, also, is for suckers," he teases. They turn the block onto a quiet street, a couple restaurants and store fronts, nothing flashy. He thinks about the wind and how long they sailed. "My guess is New Jersey."

She pouts. "That's not very exotic."

"We weren't out for very long..." he tugs her so she bumps into his side. "We'll just have to make it more exciting..."

She lifts her chin and smiles at him. "How?"

"Hm..." he glances around. "First, we're going to need a liquor store..." he flashes her a grin, "Or maybe one of those restaurants will sell us bottles..."

"Let's go this way." She pulls him down a street, checking out the restaurants.

He laughs, "So bossy."

"Oh, sorry." She stops short and bats her eyelashes at him. "You pick."

Nate grins, swings their joined hands between them and meets her gaze, "You."

She shrugs. "I'm not even that thirsty."

"That's okay. I can probably get a bottle of wine or champagne faster anyway..." he challenges casually, it's a dare and he stares at her with bright eyes and a knowing smile.

She gasps, pushing away from him and running into the nearest bar, tossing her hair over her shoulder and yelling, "As if!" at him.

Nate watches her until she disappears inside, losing precious seconds she's going to use to her advantage, but he can't help himself.

Then he laughs to himself and picks another restaurant, hopes for a female hostess, and goes to try his luck. It's been pretty good today.

It's kind of painfully easy, just a lean against the bar and her arms crossed under her breasts, biting her lip and asking if she can just see their selection of wine - and then she's out of there, double-fisting red and white wine, the bartender's number scrawled onto a napkin tucked into her back pocket.

"Nate!" she calls, trying to figure out where he went.

The first place has a guy tending bar that wants to card him. Nate backs out of there with a confused look on his face, pretends he's in the wrong place.

At the second spot, he locks eyes with the girl behind the bar and all it takes is a sheepish grin and a quick story about wanting to impress a co-worker. He walks out with her number written on one of his hands and a bottle of champagne clutched in the other.

He spots Serena on the sidewalk already, two bottles in her hands. "Show off!" He teases, laughs.

She grins at him. "You doubted me."

Nate puckers his lips and shakes his head, "Me?" He pulls her towards against him, "Never..."

She leans in to kiss him and then holds up her wine bottles. "We're stocked. Where to?"

He shrugs, holds her tight and spins them around on the sidewalk, "Pick a direction."

"You pick this time." She purses her lips. "Find me an adventure."

"Oh sure," Nate grins, "I've got the whole thing worked out in my head," he nods, laughs a little. He has no idea where they rally are even.

"First..." he glances around and jumps a little when he sees the taxicab turning the corner, "First we get a taxi..." he takes her arm and pulls her along with him as jogs towards it, waves for the cab drivers attention, "Hey... hey!"

It stops and he beams at her little, opens the door.

"Thank you." She curtsies and slips into the cab, waiting for him to follow her.

He slides in after her, crowds in close, and when the cab driver asks where to, he laughs. "South."

Serena settles her head against his shoulder, yawning softly. "What's South?"

He sets the champagne on the floor, takes a wine bottle and twists it open. "We're gonna find out..." he grins, offers her the first sip.

.tbc.