Blair, Chuck, Nate, Kati, and Isabel stepped out of the limo. The party was already in full swing. Chuck, Kati, and Isabel went straight to the bar and sat down, flipping open their phones to see if there were any new developments from Gossip Girl.

Blair and Nate decided to dance, but after awhile, Blair's feet got tired and she went to get a drink at the bar. Nate politely declined a drink, saying he wanted to stay sober. Blair smiled at him. He was always such a gentleman.

She sat down next to Kati, whose phone flashed with a new message. Blair took a sip from her martini, and then snuck a look at Kati's phone. What she saw there made her breath catch and her face turn red with anger. Her martini was dangerously close from slipping out of her hands.

Turns out even the Queen B couldn't keep S out of a good party. Why's she here? Who's she with? What's she wearing?

"What is she doing here?" Blair screamed, "She wasn't invited." Blair huffed out her pretty cheeks, pouting, angrier now that Gossip Girl was following Serena's every move like she was a celebrity.

Blair looked to the picture in the message, then looked up. She spotted Serena and noticed that she had on the sparkly gold sequin dress that she herself had tried on in Bendels the night before. She had struggled to get it on, insisting that she was a size double zero and refusing to have the dressing room assistant get her the next size up. The dress had finally fit over her butt, but her breasts didn't quite fill out the bust the way she would have liked. On Serena it looked magnificent. And if Blair thought about it, she knew that Serena and Nate would have looked perfect together. The gold in the dress sparkled and accented her golden hair, and next to Nate she would have transferred some of her sunshine to him as well. She looked perfectly flushed from running, almost as if she had just exercised, and her hair was wind-blown. In Blair's mind, Nate was the well-toned lacrosse player next to Serena. Blair cringed at this thought, imagining herself there instead. Blair, the control freak. The fat, puny, dark, complicated one with enough brain-power to run a city. Nate, the well-toned athlete, golden boy with a glint in his eye for the golden girl. Blair and Nate. They were opposites while Serena was his twin, his match, his counterpart.

Trailing behind Serena was Dan Humphrey looking slightly worried. Blair was secretly glad that he was there. Dan was Serena's distraction. The person with whom she could actually relate and talk to and have a relationship with. Nate was out of bounds. But that hadn't stopped her before. Blair knew the only reason Dan would come to one of these parties was to find his sister. Speaking of which, where was that little Jenny? Blair hadn't seen her anywhere for nearly twenty minutes. Blair looked around and noticed that Chuck was missing too. Uh oh, she thought, knowing just where both of them were. There was definitely going to be trouble.

Nate noticed Blair's anger and walked up to her. "Come on Blair. Are you really going to kick her out?" he said. Out of all the people at the party, couldn't those two just ignore each other? Nate didn't get it. Girls were so complicated.

"What, did you invite her?" Blair asked, her face turning a shade of purple. Her anger started to chip away at ther resolve. Pretty soon she would be pulling Serena by the hair and throwing her out of the party onto her ass in the street next to Brooklyn Boy, Dan Humphrey and his little sister.

"No! God, Blair. What'd I tell you," he said, trying to walk away. Blair grabbed his arm and turned him toward her. He stared her down and she gripped his arm tight as they had a power struggle. If he was going to walk away, he needed her directions and he needed them as clearly as possible.

"Do not talk to her," she said, glaring at Nate. He nodded stiffly and walked away, right past Serena, not even looking at her. Serena noticed this, and turned toward Blair. Blair glared right at her, not even hiding her fury at Serena anymore. The two girls looked at each other for a long moment, then Blair and her clique walked away. Blair felt victorious.

--

Serena stared after them for a moment, wondering why Blair was so mad. Hadn't they made up? Serena's delicate balance of happiness and sadness was being thrown off by Blair's bitchiness. Blair knew that Serena was a delicate kind of person; the kind of person who, when she was a kid, would cry if she dropped her ice cream, lost a quarter, or got her favorite stuffed animal dirty. Blair was always the one to comfort her and she knew the look on Serena's face when she was going to burst out crying. Serena's eyes pricked with tears. Her mouth dried up and twisted into a grimace. Her throat got dry and seemed to block up as she fought to hold back her tears and maintain control. Why would Blair intentionally tell Nate to ignore her? Serena sniffed twice, then walked away as she tried to find Dan and Jenny. A tear glistened in the corner of her eye, then rolled down her cheek and fell on her golden dress. She only shed that one tear.

--

Twenty minutes later, Blair spotted Dan, Serena, and Jenny descending the stairs, a jacket wrapped around Jenny. Her hair was messed up as if she'd been outside. They left, Dan and Serena holding hands, Blair glaring after them. Blair felt his presence and turned around. Chuck descended the stairs slowly, searching for Blair. He found her and walked over to her, readjusting his scarf. He seemed to be sporting a fresh black eye.

"She better not show her face around here again," Blair said, staring out into the street where Serena caught a cab for Dan and Jenny and got in after them.

"I'm actually hoping she will," Chuck said, already plotting his revenge. Blair looked back and up at him, and a silent agreement passed between them. They were going to get revenge. It's what they were best at.

--

Serena's cab drove through the city, which was beautiful at night. The colors whirred by her as she stared out the window, Dan sitting next to her. She contemplated the night. It had been hard on both of them. Serena wiped the wetness from her eyes, then dropped her hand down to her side on the seat. She was surprised to feel Dan's hand already there. He felt her hand drop on his and opened it up so she could slip her hand into his. Dan looked at her and smiled a friendly smile as he squeezed her hand. Serena smiled back a teary smile, surprised at his never-ending kindness after everything they'd been through tonight. However surprised she may be, Serena was still thankful to Dan. The tears were gone now, but she still needed his comfort.

--

Nate had watched Serena leave, a bottle of rum in his hand. It killed him to see her with someone else after what had happened, but he knew she would be better with Dan. Dan seemed smart and funny and nice enough. He was exactly what Serena needed in a boyfriend, but it still packed a shot of sadness right into his heart as he thought of what they could have been. He definitely needed a drink, despite what he had told Blair. Always being the perfect gentleman. Nate scoffed at his reputation. Blair prided herself on his manners. He was like an object to her, something that could be shown off and displayed for her own gain. He turned and started walking back to his townhouse, drinking the entire way there. Maybe if he got drunk enough he could erase the picture of Dan and Serena from his mind, or maybe he could erase the thoughts of Blair's disapproval at his drinking. He collapsed on his bed, his head spinning, already dreading school on Monday.