Nate hated when his mom made him go to brunch with all her stupid socialite friends and their annoying kids. He had enough of his classmates at school.

As soon as he walked in the room Serena headed straight towards him. "Can we talk, please?"

"Nope. We're in public. You can go across the room and tap a fork against the table in Morse code and I'll see I can interpret it."

They stood outside in the patio, and caught the attention of a few classmates.

"Nate, come on." She lowered her voice. "I'm so sorry. I don't care about Blair."

"Why don't we talk when you know what you want?"

"I am sure."

She looked around the room. She recognized Blair's minions around her classmates but Blair was nowhere to be found.

It was hard for him but he stood his ground. "I'm not sneaking around."

"I'm not asking you to. I really care about you and I want to give us a chance."

Nate looked at her. He wasn't really convinced. Serena sensed his hesitation and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I'm really sorry."

He smiled at her. "I want to give us a chance too." She pulled him in for a kiss.

...

It was almost 2 pm when Blair's phone woke her up. It kept going off. Seven new messages. Her friends were probably wondering why she missed brunch. All the text messages told her to check Gossip Girl.

She went to her computer and pulled up the site. The caption read "Golden Couple" followed by a picture of Nate and Serena kissing, then: Blair who? xoxo Gossip girl

She felt like she had just been punched in the stomach. "Dorota!"

...

Serena had never brought a boyfriend to dinner before but things were different with Nate. Being with him felt right. She hadn't seen Blair around school much and when she tried to talk to her, Blair told her she was busy.

It had actually been a success. Her mom and her brother both really liked Nate. And Nate had answered every question and got along especially well with Eric. Her mom soon excused herself to go to a meeting and Eric went over to a friends house.

"They love you!" Serena sat on Nate's lap. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course babe. I'm glad I finally have you all to myself though."

They moved to her bedroom. Before she knew it they both lay naked on her bed. He rolled over on top of her and looked her in the eyes, "Are you sure?"

Serena nodded. It was their first time together. It was their first time at all.

...

Serena was falling in love with Nate and it scared her. She didn't do much outside from hanging out with him, shopping with girlfriends, and going to school. She had done some things she wasn't proud of in the Hamptons and she was glad to get away from all that.

Her doorbell rang. Weird, she wasn't expecting Nate for another hour, he should still be at Lacrosse practice.

It was Damien Daalgard, her ex-boyfriend and ex-drug dealer. They had never officially broken up. But after she moved away, changed her phone number, and ignored all of his efforts to get in touch with her –she didn't think it was necessary to have the "break up" talk.

"Well aren't you gonna let me in?" He opened the door the rest of the way and let himself in.

"Damien. Please leave. I have nothing to say to you."

I need a favor. And you're the perfect person for this job. For old times sake."

"I'm not gonna be your drug mule anymore! Go find someone else to do your dirty work."

He took a large envelope from his coat. "As if you had a choice. Don't forget that I know the real reason you came crawling to the city. Give this to Chuck Bass by tomorrow night. I want it delivered right to his hands. Don't make me come back here."

"Oh, I put a little extra in there for you." He threw the envelope on the couch and left.

...

Serena was so fucked. It had to be Chuck of all people. She might as well march right to Nate and tell him that she was a coke whore.

Her hand was trembling as she pressing the elevator button to Chuck's hotel room. She knocked on the door to his suite.

"Serena? Nate isn't here –" He didn't expect to see her.

"I know he's not. I'm looking for you. But please don't tell Nate why I'm here."

"Okay that shouldn't be hard since I have no idea why you're here myself."

She pulled a white envelope from her bag and handed it to him. He took the envelope and dumped its contents on the table. 5 small bags of white powder.

"Where did you get this? How do you know Damien? Wow, Serena I didn't know this side of you." Chuck found the situation almost humorous.

"Chuck please, it's not funny. Nate can't find out –"

"Nate can't find out about what?" Nate stood behind Serena and she instinctively put her bag on the table, to cover the contents in the envelope.

"Nate! What are you doing here?" He could not have come at a worst time.

He gave her a worried look. "What are you hiding back there?"

Chuck could come to the rescue. Or he could just step back and let things unravel. He wanted his wingman back anyway.

"Nothing. It's nothing. Nate, please –"

Nate went around her and snatched a little bag peeking out under her bag. "Coke? Is this yours?"

"Nope. It's mine now." Chuck took the bag back along with the others and walked to the other room.

"What so your a drug dealer?" Nate was extremely confused.

"No!" She would not tell him the truth about why she moved here. He would never look at her the same way.

"Serena, what the hell is going on?" His patience was wearing thin.

"Chuck bought them from a friend of mine. And he asked me to deliver them as a one time favor. That's it."

"Ok, that's not a big deal. No judgment from me. I just wanted to know the truth and you were being all weird and jumpy."

He wrapped his arms around her. She couldn't stop the tears from escaping her eyes. She did not deserve him, not even one bit. She could not live with herself if she had to lie to him for one more second.

"Nate I can't do this anymore."

"Do what? What are you talking about?" He wiped the tears off her face.

"Us. I can't be with you."

"What are you talking about? Look I don't care that you did your friend a favor. I wouldn't even care if you were Chuck's dealer. I don't care." She stopped crying.

"It's not that. I just can't do it."

Nate wanted to slam his head repeatedly against a wall. That made more sense to him than this. "Where is this coming from? I want to be with you. I love you."

I love you too. That's why I'm doing this. "I'm sorry, Nate." She grabbed her bag and turned to leave.

Nate grabbed her hand and turned her back around. This could not be happening. Everything between them was perfect yesterday. "I'm not letting you leave until you look me in the eye and tell me that you don't love me."

The last thing Serena wanted was to hurt him. But at least the pain now would be bearable. If she kept this going and he found out the truth, the pain would be unbearable for the both of him. She had lied to so many people in the past. Why should this be any different. She looked at him right in the eye, "I don't love you." She was surprised she hadn't choked on the words but she felt so much hate for herself, hate that she hadn't felt in a long time.

Nate felt like someone was literally stomping on his heart; he couldn't breathe. He didn't try to stop her when she left. She didn't love him anymore. Somewhere along the lines she changed her mind or she had never really loved him at all.