A/N Thank you to LaylaLaRed and .stark for your reviews.

and welcome to the new followers. Hope you're enjoying the ride.

Lucy and Blair woke the next morning still face to face when Eleanor shouted their names from the doorway.

"Girls, really, that's no way to sleep" she said sternly.

Blair turned and shot her mother a venomous look.

"What did you expect, after you drove Daddy away?" she said, sliding off the bed and into the bathroom.

Eleanor raised a hand to her mouth, covering her trembling lips.

"She doesn't mean it" Lucy said, unsure.

Eleanor sighed wearily. "Yes, she does. I don't have time for this. I'm incredibly busy. Fashion week is coming up and you are starting a new school in a week!"

Lucy sat up properly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Eleanor said sternly. "There's no need to worry about me, I'm fine. I even suspected what Harold was doing" she said airily, but Lucy detected a false note in her voice. She hadn't known. There was no way she could have known that.

Lucy nodded.

"Okay then" she said, wishing Blair was here to interpret Eleanor's mood.

"Good. Well, I'm off to the atelier. Please, sleep in your own beds tonight. I doubt I will be back until late, and then I'm off to Paris on Wednesday to oversee things there."

"Do you even care about us?" Lucy asked suddenly.

Eleanor raised her eyebrows.

"Of course I care about you. Both of you. But we Waldorf women are powerful. I will never be just a mother."

"You haven't even really been that" Blair snapped, coming out of the bathroom. "You never wanted to be."

Eleanor closed her eyes.

"I will see you later" she said quietly, and left.

Lucy turned to Blair.

"Why do you push her away so much?"

Blair looked furious.

"What do you know? You never cared before!"

Her cheeks flushed and her eyes grew bright with anger.

Lucy sighed. Why hadn't Eleanor, or Serena, told her that she hadn't known about her family?

"Blair, listen to me" she started.

"No, no! Get out! Now!"

Lucy stomped out. There was no talking to Blair in this mood, but she had to tell her, sooner or later.

Lucy and Serena met over coffee, Serena unusually serious.

"Lucy, I didn't know how to tell her. You know it wouldn't have been right coming from me."

"Well, then why hasn't Eleanor? Every time I try to broach the subject, she closes off, says it's all in the past now."

Serena took a bite of chocolate muffin.

"Blair" she said, voice muffled around her mouthful of muffin, "is very defensive. She doesn't like talking about things that have upset her. She would much rather move on than have to hear about it."

"That's so unhealthy!" Lucy said.

"Yes, but you're ridiculously strong. I don't know how you found your family and were with them within a week, holding it all together. You've already tried so hard with Blair."

"She's my sister" Lucy said, bewildered. "Why wouldn't I try?"

Serena smiled fondly at her.

"She doesn't deserve you, and I'm speaking as B's best friend. She's a manipulative, vindictive girl and you just ignore that and focus on her good points. She's lent you a dress! She's always talking about you to me and Nate, saying how great you are. She even said you sound like Audrey Hepburn."

Lucy laughed. "I had no idea, really. Then again, I couldn't have known her before she knew me."

"Just, if you want to know something about Blair, come to me if you like. I'll help you navigate her murky character."

Lucy laughed loudly. "Blair isn't evil, really. Why are you best friends with her?"

Serena looked thoughtful.

"Because, in the end, she's always been there for me. She's got me through some hard times, and despite her many faults, she doesn't judge me. None of us judge each other, we're just there for whatever we need."

Lucy's face fell.

"What is it?" Serena asked.

"I wonder if I'll ever have a group of friends as loyal as you" she said sadly.

Serena grabbed her hand.

"You already do, silly. We're just waiting for a chance to play truth or dare, then once we know all your secrets, you'll be initiated."

Lucy laughed nervously.

"I'm really quite boring compared to the rest of you."

Serena just raised one eyebrow knowingly.

On her way home, her Gossip Girl text alert sounded. She opened the blast:

Spotted: S and L at a cosy coffee meeting. Something they have in common: absent fathers. At least we know who S's daddy is, but what about L?

It's only a matter of time before I find out.

xoxo Gossip Girl

Lucy rolled her eyes. She texted Serena: "wtf is up with GG? Such a nosy bitch."

Serena replied: "Haha, don't get me started!"

Blair was reading when Lucy got home.

"Enjoy your date?" she said snidely. Lucy lay across Blair's bed.

"Yes. Oh, Blair?"

Blair sighed. "Yes, dearest sister?"

"When you're ready to grow up and listen to my story, let me know."

She got up and went to her own room, leaving Blair unable to carry on with Pride and Prejudice.

She flung the book down, annoyed.

"Stupid sister coming to ruin everything" she muttered under her breath.

The day of the Shepherd wedding dawned and Serena was downstairs, already tipsy, as Blair and Lucy got ready.

"It's barely 11 o clock!" Blair exclaimed to Lucy, coming into her room, where Lucy was doing her make up.

"So, we have to leave in an hour" Lucy said, frowning.

"No, no, Serena's getting drunk" Blair said.

Lucy laughed.

"It is a wedding" she said, "calm down, Blair."

Blair stamped her foot. "No, I will not calm down. Serena is out of control!"

Lucy sighed. "I'll sort it out."

She smiled at her reflection. The red dress made her hair look darker and her eyes bigger. Her pale legs looked long and elegant, enchanced by the high Louboutins. She wore red lipstick.

"You need some earrings" Blair said, disappearing into her room. She returned with some pearl drop earrings, which she handed to her. Lucy put them in, noting their faint glow.

"Perfect," she said, "thank you."

Blair smiled faintly. "With a bit of practice, you'll nearly look as good as me" she said snidely.

Lucy just rolled her eyes. She was getting more used to Blair's wit, and she knew now to read between the lines.

She looked good.

Serena was dancing around the lobby, singing at the top of her voice when they came down. Her gold dress swirled about her, long legs showing and hair flying.

"You look beautiful, B!" she cried, hugging Blair, who stood there stiffly.

"Thanks, S" Blair said, reluctantly smiling at her wild best friend.

Nate and Chuck came out of the elevator, both wearing black tuxedos.

"You look positively indecent, Serena" Chuck said sleazily, smirking at her.

"Shut up, Chuck" Serena said nonchalantly, falling on one of the sofas. Nate sat next to her and she turned to him, placing a hand on his knee.

Blair was staring at Chuck, arms crossed.

"Where have you been, Bass?"

"In Europe" Chuck said. "Why, did you miss me Waldorf?"

"You wish" she said slowly, "but you did miss quite a lot."

Chuck turned to look at Lucy, who was texting Eleanor.

"Who's this?" he asked eagerly.

Blair tapped her heel against the floor, expression annoyed.

"This is my sister, Lucy. Lucy, this is Chuck Bass."

Chuck raised an eyebrow. "I did miss quite a lot, it seems."

Lucy shook his hand. He held onto it, and kissed the back of it softly. Lucy wriggled it out of his grasp.

"Nice to meet you" she said. She supposed he was good looking, in a bad boy sort of way. His eyes were so dark they were like pits, deep and empty. His expression was carefully blank. His dark hair fell slightly over his forehead and he wore a scarf with his tux. Blair grabbed it.

"You can't wear that to a wedding" she snapped, throwing it in the hall closet.

"Give it back!" Chuck yelled.

"No" Blair said firmly.

Lucy watched the exchange with interest. The two bickered like they cared about each other and had far more chemistry than Blair and Nate did.

Nate came over.

"Blair, is it time to go yet?"

"No" Blair said, still trying to guard the hall closet door from Chuck. Nate shrugged.

Lucy could smell weed coming from his jacket. He smiled kindly at her.

"Hey Lucy" he said. Sudden realization dawned in his eyes. "I meant to call you. I need to tell you something."

Lucy, rolling her eyes, followed him to the dining room, where he turned to face her, suddenly serious.

"My mum told me that around the time you would have been conceived, Eleanor was in Europe. She was seeing someone quite well known. I don't know who it was, but it's something to go on."

"Thanks Nate" she said, smiling at him. "How are you and Blair? You haven't been around much recently."

"Well, she's been busy with you" Nate said shiftily. "I didn't want to intrude."

"You wouldn't have been intruding" Lucy said gently.

"Nate! Lucy!" Blair's voice called. Nate left the room quickly.

They all piled into the elevator, Nate trying to stop Serena pressing all the buttons on the way down.

Blair was exasperated. "Honestly Serena, you're such an embarrassment" she snapped finally, as they got into Chuck's limo. He cracked open the champagne when they got inside, and Serena reached for a glass immediately.

"No, Serena, that's mine" Lucy said. Serena pouted.

"Lovely bubbles" she giggled as Lucy drained the glass.

They managed to stop her drinking the whole way.

The wedding was held in a large hotel and every guest there was dressed beautifully. The service itself was boring, but the reception a little more eventful. The Upper East Side elite, away from prying eyes, let themselves go a little. Lily van der Woodsen was flirting with a businessman and Chuck with the mother of one of his classmates. Two other people were letting themselves go quite a bit as well.

"Nate!" Serena cried, as he chased her into an empty room.

"Oh look, there's a bar!" she laughed, finding a bottle of champagne and climbing up on top. She walked along, swaying her skirts as Nate tried to stop her.

"Serena, come on. Serena, get down."

His entreaties were half-hearted and Serena knew it. Finally, subsiding into giggles, she got down.

Somehow, they were close, too close, and then they were kissing. Kissing furiously, heatedly, like they had wanted to for months, years.

Fuelled by liquid courage, Nate allowed himself to be consumed by his golden girl.

Serena. Her hair, soft and warm, her eyes, a deep cerulean blue. Her long, limber legs, wrapped around his chest and her soft voice murmuring as their mouths pressed together.

Then he was inside her, inside a woman for the first time. Something he had always thought would be with Blair, but he had only imagined with Serena. His Serena.

When it was over, she was pushing him away, tears running down her face.

"Blair. Oh, Blair, what have I done? No, Nate, get off me."

He tried to calm her, to make her see that it would be alright, that Blair would understand, but she wouldn't listen.

She got down and without looking at Nate, fled the room.

Nate felt hollow. She had left him just like she left everyone. He thought he was different.

Lucy was standing by the bar, sipping a gin martini, (which Blair assured her was marvellous), when a dark haired, handsome man came up to her.

"Hi, Carter Baizen" he said breezily, signalling the bartender. "Can I get you another of those?"

Lucy nodded. She held out her hand.

"Lucy Waldorf" she said.

Carter raised an eyebrow.

"I heard there was another of you floating about. I was sad to hear about Imogen."

Lucy leaned in.

"You knew Imogen?" she said.

"Imogen is a family friend. We used to visit her in London when I was little. Although, I don't remember a baby being there."

Lucy frowned.

"I was there as soon as I was born. That's what my mother told me."

Carter smirked, and handed her a fresh martini.

"Then someone's lying. Unless you were shut in a cupboard, there was no baby at Imogen Astor's house, and I'm only two years older than you."

Blair crossed over.

"Ewww" she said, glancing at Carter. "Please tell me you are not talking to him. Do you know how many girls he's slept with?"

Lucy amused, laughed.

"You talk to Chuck" she teased.

Blair rolled her eyes. "Chuck is one of us. Anyway, I didn't come to talk to you about him. Have you seen Nate?"

Lucy scanned the room briefly.

"I can't see him in here. Where else would he be?"

She searched for Serena, but couldn't see her either.

"I'll go look" she murmured, laying a calming hand on Blair's shoulder. "Nice to meet you Carter" she said, smiling.

Carter raised his glass, smirking at Blair, who scowled at him.

Lucy searched the Shepherd's apartment, navigating the drunken guests impatiently. Nate and Serena both gone and alcohol flowing. That could turn into a situation that would hurt Blair a lot. She stumbled into another room with a bar and a balcony. Nate was leaning against the bar, bottle of champagne to his lips and shirt buttons undone.

"Have you seen Serena?" Lucy asked, watching his face flush. She had no proof, but she would bet that Serena had just been here.

"No" he said, shrugging his shoulders as he put the bottle down and did up his shirt buttons.

Lucy stared at him, and Nate flinched as she reminded him of Blair. Lucy was usually so nice, but that look was terrifying.

"Okay" she said slowly. "Blair's looking for you" she said, as she went back to the party.

Behind her, Nate's heart thumped loudly in his chest, certain that she had read his mind with that stare of hers.

Neither of them noticed a figure on the balcony, who had seen everything.

Blair was still not at home when Lucy got back, at around midnight. Her phone went straight to voicemail and she wasn't answering any texts. Lucy tried to sleep, but the sight of Nate in that bar, shirt buttons undone, haunted her and her heart pounded with guilt. Could she have prevented this?

Blair lay on her bed at midday the next day, groaning.

"Dorota!" she yelled.

Lucy chuckled from the bathroom, where she was applying her make up. The girl really was a brat.

"Yes, Miss Blair?"

"Take this breakfast away. I can't eat it today. And bring me my phone, it's on the nightstand."

Lucy rolled her eyes and walked into Blair's room. Blair was under the covers, moaning. Lucy flung herself on the bed, making Blair squeal.

"Dorota?!" she said, outraged, flipping the covers back off her face.

Lucy laughed at the scandalized look on Blair's face.

"Where were you last night?" Lucy asked. "I tried to ring you."

Blair sighed. "I was with Chuck. He came and found me after you disappeared and I couldn't find Nate or Serena anywhere. We went back to his hotel and I fell asleep."

"I was worried Blair" Lucy said.

"God, you're such a big sister" Blair said, but she was smiling.

Blair took the phone from Dorota and dialled. She frowned as it went straight to voice mail. Then she dialled another number.

"Lily? Hi, is Serena there? We had brunch plans and I was just calling to let her know that I'll be late."

There was silence as Blair listened to Lily.

"No, she didn't tell me. When did she leave?"

"This morning? Thank you, Mrs Van der Woodsen."

Blair hung up, her face pale. She looked at her sister.

"Serena's gone. She's gone to boarding school in Connecticut."

Da Da Daaa! Not so much of a cliffhanger to those who know Gossip Girl, but an exciting place to stop anyway!

Would you all enjoy a year without Serena, or a time jump after 3 months or so to when she comes back?