Chapter Four: Gossip Girl.

When she awoke the next morning, she was expecting Blair to have left for school already, but then she realized that it was Sunday. Hanna hopped out of bed and took a quick shower to wake herself up. Once she was all fixed up, she was thinking of finding Blair and asking her about Chuck, to see if maybe he wasn't as bad as she thought he was, but then she decided against it. Not only was she not in the mood to talk about her encounter with Chuck, she still wasn't sure how to act around Blair. They weren't exactly close, and having a calm girl to girl conversation with her seemed pretty unrealistic. She unplugged her cell phone from its charger and opened it to find one new text message.

Serena: U busy?

Hanna grabbed her purse and dialed Serena's number on her way out the door. When she was outside, she was almost blinded by how bright the sun was. She dug through her purse with one hand and pulled out her new pair of sunglasses and put them on. Once Serena answered, they talked for a minute before deciding that they would meet somewhere. Hanna didn't feel like bothering Rossleton for a ride, and besides, it was a nice day, so she just decided to walk the entire way. Not a good plan. Halfway there, she hailed a cab. The new shoes that adorned her feet weren't exactly walking friendly, especially not for a walk all the way to town.

Ugh.
Fashion is painful.

"You did what to Chuck Bass?" Serena exclaimed incredulously, almost choking on her water, as her outburst caught the attention of several people at surrounding tables. They were eating lunch at an outdoor café downtown, shaded from the bright sun by a large umbrella connected to the table.

"Yeah… I feel kinda bad about it though, even though he probably had it coming." She said, then taking a sip of tea. Like clockwork, a waitress walked over, asking if she needed a refill. Hanna handed her the half empty glass.

"That's true," Serena said. "Well at least you won't have a problem with him anymore. He'll just move on to the next girl. As we speak, he's probably sneaking out of a girl's bedroom, while she's blissfully clueless and asleep, and he's trying his best not to make a sound."

"Ha, probably," Hanna scoffed.

"Or…" Serena trailed off.

Hanna raised her eyebrows. "Or what?"

"Well, no one's ever really stood up to him like that.. Every girl he puts his charm on, follows him around like a lost puppy, and will put up with all the crap that he throws their way. Except Blair. And now, there's you. But you're a Waldorf, I really shouldn't be surprised," She paused as she took another sip of her water. "Anyway, my point is, he probably finds you interesting now. In his mind, you're playing hard to get. You're not just falling for his charm right away, and when that happens… it's like a game to him."

Hanna thought for a moment, and realized that she was right. "Oh," She said. "Great."

"Change of subject?" The blonde asked, smiling at Hanna sympathetically.

"Yes please."

Serena laughed. "Okay, did you have fun at the party last night?"

"Which part of the party do you mean? Where I got to meet all kinds of new people and stuff my face with yummy food, or where I got to take my frustration on Chuck and then leave him writhing in pain on the living room floor? Because both were rather interesting," She said with a smirk.

"The first part," Serena laughed.

"It was great, honestly. At first I was really nervous about meeting all these people… but I had a great time. Dan seems really nice. You guys make a cute couple. And his sister Jenny is really sweet."

Serena smiled. "Yeah, she reminds me a little of you, in a way. A younger version of you. She's a little different than everyone here."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should."

When Hanna returned to the Waldorf residence a few hours later, after catching a movie with Dan and Serena, she found Derota tidying up the living room from the previous night's party. "Hello, Derota," She said, stopping at the bottom of the staircase. "I hope we didn't leave too much of a mess last night." "Not at all, Ms. Hanna. Serena and Blair throw many parties here, this was the least messy of them. How are you?" The stocky woman said in return. Hanna shrugged. "Can't complain, I guess," She said, before continuing up the steps to her bedroom. She closed the door behind her, and sat down on her bed, legs crossed in front of her as she grabbed the remote off her nightstand and scrolled through the channels on the large high-def television on the opposite wall. Although she missed her mom, she was starting to really love it here; the peace and quiet; the solitude. Not that she was exactly a loner, but she enjoyed the option of being alone when she felt like it. She dozed off halfway during an episode of Bones, but the buzzing of her phone that rested in her hand woke her from her nap. Groggily, she flipped open the cell phone and saw that it was a text message. It was a forwarded messaged from Serena. Gossip Girl? And then she remembered, Serena had mentioned it to her earlier. She clicked ok, and a picture flooded the screen. It was taken the previous night; she knew that because it was a picture of Chuck Bass and herself from the party. After everyone had left. But apparently, someone else had been there that she didn't know about. "Sneaky little rich kids," She muttered, scrolling down.

"Looks like naivety runs in the family: Just after the "Welcome to NYC" bash thrown in her honor, Hanna Waldorf is caught cozying up to Chuck Bass, just weeks after his and Blair's breakup. Uh, oh, she better watch out. Vengeance is a dish Blair Waldorf is well experienced in, and everyone knows it's best served cold. XoXo, Gossip Girl."

Crap, she thought, letting her phone snap shut, sitting up straight on the bed. Serena had warned her about Gossip Girl, and how it had a tendency to make life blow up in your face, and make situations that were completely harmless turn into a love affair of some sort, or at the very least, a ridiculous lie. She could only guess that Blair had read it by now, so getting out of the house before she got home was probably an outstandingly brilliant plan right about now.

While she was out, putting her "avoid Blair Waldorf and everyone else that knows Blair Waldorf" plan into action, she ran into the person she should have been avoiding in the first place, right outside a small French restaurant. She hoped he hadn't seen her, and she quickly continued to walk on, her heels click-clacking against the sidewalk.

"That was quite a hello you gave me last night," Chuck said, suddenly walking alongside her. "Is that how you greet every guy that approaches you, or am I just special?"

Hanna rolled her eyes and tried to quicken her pace. "Are you seriously going to try this again? Because, if you remember, it didn't work out too well for you the first time."

"I'm willing to risk it," He smirked, stopping in front of her.

"You're about to risk the chance of ever reproducing if you don't get out of my way," She said impatiently, crossing her arms across her chest and glaring at him.

But Chuck merely smiled and stepped aside. "You have a good day, Hanna," He winked as he walked away.

A/N: Yeah, so I'm not quite good at the whole witty Gossip Girl banter yet, but that's the best I could do with the whole text message thing. I think I did pretty well considering I haven't watched Gossip Girl in about a year.

The story should get a little more interesting in the next couple of chapters. Like I said before, I'm not exactly a Gossip Girl expert, so I'm doing this story my own way. I tried my best to get the characters' personalities as close to the show as possible, so if they seem a little off, it's only because I spend more time watching Supernatural and movies than I do watching Gossip Girl.