Disclaimer: I don't own Gossip Girl – I own Lydia and Sebastian who are from my previous story "The Unheard Sister of Chuck Bass" and the other characters has been submitted through my SYOC, PM me if you're interested in submitting a character

A/N: Secrets exposed and secrets deleted- be careful Upper East Siders...

Chapter 04 – Henry Bass

A video sent in from one UESider, see for yourself...

A video of Meredith and Sebastian kissing as a dare.

Secret, deleted. Know my name, keep the secrets- Jane Doe, kisses x

That Snapchat video surfaced on Friday evening, it was now Sunday night. I'd barely had a full conversation about it with Sebastian. He had ended up staying in one of the spare rooms at mine - I assumed he just didn't want to face his secret girlfriend, or even his dad.

Not that it was in the mainstream media or anything.

Sebastian loved the limelight of being the son of the mayor and the connections from the Spectator. His dad, on the other hand, was quick to encourage Sebastian to reel it in, to behave more appropriately. Mr Archibald had a well-founded fear of his image being smeared. Sebastian and his parents were watched with eagle eyes. People were just waiting for one of them to get caught up in a scandal.

It seemed as though Jane Doe could threaten everything for Sebastian.

But did our parents know about Jane Doe? She was still relatively small and that would not come to our parents' attention just yet. For all I knew, she might be gone in a week or two.

I still wanted to know more about Jane Doe though. Who was she and why was she doing this? There was no obvious motive so it didn't make sense right now, but maybe it would in time.

Keen to discover more about Jane Doe, I decided that the party group needed to be invited again. Deep down, I was hoping to unearth who filmed the video, because I just couldn't work it out. No one had their phones in their hand at the time, so it wasn't obvious who sent it in to Jane Doe. I couldn't even remember who was sitting where to work it out by the angle that it was filmed at.

I was sat at the dining room table working on an easy bit of algebra homework. Eager to get it done before the others arrived or before my mom started to pester me to study more, I cracked on. She wanted the best for me and Tiffany, so tried to be a big part of our school lives. Mom was the head of the PTA for Constance and always helped organising fundraisers with St Jude's. Not to mention she was always happy to donate an outfit from Waldorf Designs at a school auction.

"Hey Henry- I'm going to dash now..." Sebastian said, standing awkwardly in the doorway. "My parents will be wondering where I am."

"Wait Sebastian," I replied quickly. "I need you to talk to me about Jane Doe."

"No." He shut me down instantly. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on Sebastian. If this stuff escalates, then it would be easier if there were no secrets between us all, right?" I smiled, trying to be positive in this situation. "And you can't go because the others will be here to talk about Jane Doe. I invited Violet and Harper along. Vick said she might be late and Meredith wants to drag the Dustin-dustbin along. Not that I know what's up with them. Their relationship, I mean."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Henry- come on, don't do this. It isn't my place to say what my relationship is and who it is with. It's hers too!"

I couldn't believe that Sebastian was being so defensive, it was irrational and uncalled for. "Seb. We're best friends, you know you can tell me anything. Just talk to me, tell me who it is and then I can always have your back. No matter what Jane Doe throws our way."

Sebastian shook his head and I could see him debating everything in his mind. Clearly the identity of his new girlfriend could jeopardise a lot if word got out. There were way too many possible explanations as to why Sebastian wasn't telling me the whole story.

"Is it someone I know- wait, is it Vick?" I asked, leaning forwards a little. "Or… Meredith?"

"Definitely not Meredith, and Vick? Seriously, she's like our best friend!" Sebastian was so strange that it only made me even more determined to find out the truth. "Henry, please stop pressuring me to tell you the truth. It isn't someone you know, so just stop asking, alright?" His phone began to beep, and he checked it immediately. "Anyway, after that video of me and Meredith getting off, I don't know if I even have a relationship to go back to."

"Oh- well, I hope it works out for you in the end… What's the deal with you and Meredith anyway? I can definitely sense some old chemistry there. You couldn't deny it from what happened on Friday." I stood up and went into the kitchen to get us a can of soda each. "So?"

He opened the can majestically with just one hand and leant back on the counter. "You know how it is Henry. We did stuff."

"Stuff?" I asked, noticing his slightly crooked smile. "Are you saying that you and her…?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Sebastian remained cryptic. "So what about you and Harper? You were totally into her on Friday. I can read you like a book, Henry. It was written all over your face – just like when you fell for Maddie Fox back in eighth grade. Not that I can blame you, because Maddie is hot." He took a long gulp of his soda. "Sometimes I wonder how she's doing…" he added absentmindedly.

"Oh please don't remind me about the Maddie drama… And as for Harper, well I don't know her that well so who knows?"

I heard the front door opening, and led Sebastian through to the dining room where Meredith and Violet were waiting. Greeting the pair politely, I offered them a drink and disappeared into the kitchen to get them something.

That's when I overheard Meredith having a go at Sebastian over the video of them getting off got out on Jane Doe's Snapchat, accusing him of doing it to get back at her now that she was getting to know Dustbin.

When I returned, I saw Violet sat down at the table, glancing at my algebra work and circling one of the answers.

"Hey…" I said, trying not to laugh.

She shrugged shyly. "I just thought you might like to go in and get a hundred percent, rather than like-" She checked the sheet, "-ninety one. So what did you invite us all around for, Henry?" Violet pulled her hair back off her face into a high ponytail.

"It's about that site… Jane Doe." I analysed everyone's faces to see if any one of them knew something. "The fact that she appeared out of nowhere, makes me wonder what the game plan is." I leant across Violet, reaching for a notebook I had put to one side. "I've made a few notes, but I want to wait for Vick and-"

"Harper!" Sebastian exclaimed enthusiastically, grinning as he looked between me and Harper. He hugged her tightly. "Glad you could make it."

"Obviously not as glad as you are then," she replied, laughing softly. "Sorry Henry, you were saying you had something." Harper smiled, straightening out a black skater dress before sitting down in the chair opposite Violet. "Don't let me hold you up then- spill the beans!"

I decided that I could easily fill Victoria in later on and opened up my notebook slowly, glancing over my Jane Doe notes. "Okay, so in the past, some of our parents were affected by something called Gossip Girl. Gossip Girl basically reported on some stuff that happened in the Upper East Side. Whether that was people getting together, cheating on each other or things that verged on the wrong side of the law." I looked at Sebastian leaning on an empty chair.

"But I noticed something unusual about Jane Doe. She uses two phrases outside of her tagline on some of her posts. Secret deleted and secret exposed, or something like that. It's like she is giving someone a chance to keep a secret hidden. You ignored it, didn't you Sebastian? That's why she released that post on you about your girlfriend."

His mouth dropped and started to twitch as he tried to thread an excuse together, but he clearly failed. "It's true. I didn't think much of it, but the truth was eventually going to come out. Everything's in the open now, and I don't have to hide about it anymore. It might not be what I wanted, but I'm fine with that."

Meredith stifled a laugh. "Oh come on Sebastian- everyone here knows exactly what you're like. You practically kiss any girl in the Upper East Side with a pulse."

There was no way I was going to just let Meredith push my best mate down.

"Oh, and you have incredibly high standards right, Meredith?" I saw Violet and Harper gasp and then giggle – much to Meredith's anger. I got to the point. "So if Jane Doe went in on Sebastian over this new girlfriend he won't tell us about. That caused the secret to be exposed. But yesterday was a secret deleted…"

Harper stood up. "Henry, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I think we should all stay away from each other. That way, there is no way that Jane Doe can get any dirt from us." She stood up and flicked her wavy hair over her shoulder. "I have somewhere I need to be."

"I'll walk you out." I smiled, leading her towards the door, being elbowed by Sebastian as I passed him. "I w- Harper, erm, thanks for coming."

We were standing on the front steps and I held the door closed, holding the doorknob gently. She was standing barely a foot away from me and I could smell the fresh fruity smell of her hair. I could feel my heart beating as I wondered whether I should ask her out or something.

"Henry?" she whispered, looking at me with her hazel eyes.

A sudden car horn beeped from down the street. It startled me and I lurched forwards. Our lips touched for a couple of seconds. I was swarmed with thoughts about how dry my lips were and what an awful kiss it would have been for Harper.

"Henry…" she mumbled, covering her mouth suddenly. "I should go, maybe I'll see you around?"

"Ye, yeah, of course Harper. See you later," I stammered, before going back inside and leaning on the closed door. "Meredith! You scared the life out of me."

She sighed, tossing her dark blonde hair about like she was in some kind of shampoo advert. That was just how she behaved, Meredith really wanted to be this top model. She used any opportunity to behave like one. As she would say, everything had to be 'hashtag flawless, hashtag on point.'

"Yeah, I said I'd meet Dustin because he couldn't get off of work early – he's a photographer for a studio in Harlem. He's always really busy with lots of shoots. Even the weekends are busy."

"Be careful, Meredith." I put my hands up apologetically. "I know you don't want to hear it, but I get a bad vibe from Dustin. Like he's hiding something."

Meredith rolled her eyes, as if she was telling me that she was fine and knew best. At least I had said my peace and could say I warned her. She headed for the door, the material of her pinstripe jumpsuit swishing with every step.

"Later Sebastian, try to move on from me, okay?" she called out, laughing as she went.

"I should probably go too." Violet stood in the doorway, clutching the strap of her bag tightly. "Walk me out will you?" she whispered confidently, with a touch of flirtation in her voice that got my heart going. "Henry, you're supposed to get to the door before I do. You don't have much experience with flirting, do you Henry?"

"You cheeky- well I wouldn't quite say that. I can make up for it elsewhere."

I opened the door and let Violet step outside first. "It's been great getting to know you-"

Violet laughed her adorable laugh. "Henry, you've met me only a couple of times at most. You don't know me." She ruffled my hair, creating a swished and flicked out mess. "Better."

I didn't like people messing with my hair, but I didn't care when it was her.

She started to walk down the steps and I was momentarily mesmerised. My instincts and impulses kicked in without warning. I bounded down the steps, hitting the pavement and grabbing Violet's arm. I pulled her back around to me.

At first, she almost slammed into my chest and was about to fight back, but she stopped. One of my hands rested on the small of her back and the other reached up and cupped her cheek as I leaned in for a kiss.

What are you doing, Henry? I thought to myself, feeling an internal conflict with what I was doing and what had just happened not minutes before.

"Woah… Um, wow. You are full of surprises Henry Bass," Violet stammered, pulling away. "Where's your phone? I'll give you my number." Her hand cheekily slipped down to my jean's back pocket and pulled out my phone. "Here." She handed my phone back to me before turning on her toes and marching off across the street.

"Woah- Henry. I totally did not see that coming. Man, you have good taste in girls!"

I turned around to see Sebastian leaning on the doorframe. The interrogation was about to begin.

"Listen Sebastian. There's something I have to confide in you about – let's go to my room."

We rushed up to my room, squeezing past Tiffany who was eager to know what was going on between her brother and cousin. It was sometimes hard to believe that Sebastian had some Bass blood in him. From what I had overheard Mom and Aunt Lydia gossiping over in the past, they seemed to think that Sebastian was more like a Bass than I was…

"I'm ready- hit me with it, cuz." Sebastian opened the door of my balcony. It was just a patio balcony, but you got some insane views of the Upper East Side and a bit of Central Park. "You really got the best bedroom views…"

"Never mind that… Sit down, I have a dilemma." I paused, not for dramatic effect but because I didn't even know where to begin. "I – I didn't just kiss Violet."

"No mate, you snogged the pants off of the girl!" Sebastian nearly cackled, until he realised something else. "But I thought you were into Harper?"

"Well yeah, I am, but there's a chance I may have kissed her too." I rubbed the back of my head, noticing my messed up hair in the glass door's reflection. "It wasn't intention. I got a fright and just sort of lunged forwards and kissed Harper. I totally screwed up everything."

Sebastian's mouth hit the ground in shock. "Henry, you absolute – I don't even know what to call you. You kissed two girls, so what? You're not in a relationship with either one of them. Henry, I got to tell you, but this is your time to play the field. Just because you kissed them doesn't mean something has to happen with either one of them."

"Seb, you know that's not how I think. If you kiss a girl, you should be in a position where you see a relationship with her… I don't want either one of their feelings to be hurt, that's all."

Our phones pinged in our pockets, and I thought it might just have been a St Jude's group chat. I should have known that it wasn't.

Jane Doe had moved onto Twitter asking us to check Instagram. And right there on Instagram was the start of my own personal drama.

"Oh man alive…" I said, adding a few curse words in for good measure.

There were two photos that you could swipe back and forth between – someone had taken them of me from across the street.

The caption read – "Hey UESiders, and have I got a game for you. Spot the difference. How many differences can you see in Pencil-Boy's photo? Know my name, keep the secrets. Jane Doe, kisses x."

Pencil Boy? That's me… My initials are H.B, like the pencils, hence the name Pencil Boy.

"Well, I guess everyone who follows Jane Doe is going to know that you kissed both Harper and Violet. The question is… Which one do you like more?" Sebastian asked, remaining significantly calmer than I was.

"Yeah, but Jane Doe didn't contact me first."

"Maybe she was trying to warn you not to try and find out her identity? Or she just wants to show how ruthless she can be."

I felt like I had unopened a can of worms. Sure, I liked Harper initially, but Violet had this cheeky, flirty vibe that was so unlike me that I was attracted to her a little bit too.

I had certainly gotten myself into a bit of a mess.

Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Another chapter done, let me know what your thoughts are and who you think Henry should go on a date with – Harper or Violet?