"Serena hurry up," Dan called out, stuffing his hands deep in his jacket pocket on the chilly day.

"I'm coming," Serena promised, hoping one foot trying to get the other heel on, "How late are we?" She asked, as she quickly pulled on her jacket.

"Well, we had made reservations for dinner at 7, and now its 7:45, so we're pretty darn late!" Dan said, checking her phone, "Oh Serena, you have a text from Blair,"

Serena finally came out and grabbed her phone, before ignoring the text, "It's okay I'll check it later, let's go,"

"Serena, you've been ignoring her for the last two weeks, what's going on?" Dan asked as they began to walk the block to the restaurant, Serena had been tied to his hip for the last two weeks, and even though Dan didn't mind all the attention, he knew something was up because Serena would never avoid Blair this long, they can barely go a day without filling each other in on their crap, or even always going to the same parties. But Serena had been avoiding the social scene too, the last party she went to was the night she dragged him along, she's been hiding out in his loft for the last two weeks…but hiding from what?

Serena sighed, "I'm not avoiding her," She lied. It was true she had been avoiding Blair like the plague, but Blair led to a connection with Nate, whether it be awkward run ins, or having to hear about their plans or intimate moments, and that was more than enough for Serena to hurl. So Serena had decided that to cut Nate completely out of her mind and life, she had to avoid Blair… for the time being. And when it got easier to deal with Nate, she would be fine. She had just been spending too much time with Nate reminiscing and they were both starting to confuse their friendship for something more. It must have to do with that feeling of being forbidden that was causing them all this confused desire from their past… it must be. Because if it were anything else, it would mean they didn't love Blair and Dan, and that couldn't be true. So the only solution to the problem was to take time completely away from Nate so they both can clear the confusion and refocus on their relationships, which are the most important thing here.

Dan raised an amused eyebrow as they stepped into the restaurant, "Well if you're not avoiding her, then there shouldn't a problem to go say hi, since she's sitting right there,"

Serena felt panic squeeze her chest as she looked up quickly, sure enough there sat Blair, and across her, who had his back towards them, was undoubtedly Nate. This was her worst nightmare.

Serena thought about turning back, but it was too late, Blair had spotted them and a smile lit her face as she waved them over. Serena gulped, when to her horror, Nate turned in his seat to see who Blair was waving at, and she could feel his icy blue eyes on her. Serena avoided making eye contact and quickly plastered a fake smile on her face and walked over with Dan.

"Hey guys!" She exclaimed in forced enthusiasm. She could feel Nate's eyes on her, but she refused to acknowledge it, and kept focused on Blair, "We didn't know you guys were coming here as well,"

"Maybe you would've known if you hadn't been avoiding me," Blair answered questioningly.

Serena winced, unsure of how to respond but Dan, sensing the awkwardness, deciding to bud in instead, "What's up guys," he greeted, taking the attention on him to relieve the distressed Serena.

"Hello uh… Stan?" Blair greeted with an amused grin, causing a stifled laugh from Nate.

Serena frowned, turning towards Nate for the first time to throw him a glare; she expected something like this from Blair, but not from Nate, "It's Dan," Serena interrupted coldly, "And excuse us while we head to our table. You two enjoy your dinner,"

She saw Nate's forehead wrinkle in confusion, and Blair laughed, "C'mon S, don't take it so offensively, you can't expect me to know the names of people who aren't in our social sphere."

"Well B, he's my boyfriend, so I do kind of expect you to know his name by now, but it's cool, have fun!" Serena smiled mockingly, before taking Dan's hand as he led her towards their table.

Nate watched the joined hands with a frown, before turning to Blair, "I don't know what she sees in the guy," Nate muttered, almost bitterly.

Blair shrugged, "Well whatever, I guess if she's happy it doesn't matter, anyways back to what we were talking about. So apparently, my dad is now traveling to-…"

Nate tuned the rest of her sentence out; it was honestly starting to piss him off how Serena is so immature that instead of dealing with their issue, she would just completely ignore him. Like he knows now that he belongs with Blair and she with Dan, but be an adult and just talk it out so they could atleast continue as friends. But no, instead it just makes more sense to her to just ignore his calls, texts, and avoid him in general. She wouldn't even make eye contact with him… that's pathetic! How was it fair to him that she chose when she wanted to call him, even though she didn't really talk one of the times and the other time she hung up on the first ring, but she got to play those games with him. Enough was enough!

She was sitting in the far corner of the room, and Nate saw her get up to walk towards the restrooms.

"Nate, are you listening?" Blair demanded.

"Yeah babe, I'm sorry, I'll be right back I just need to go the restroom," He said quickly, getting up before she could reply, he gave her a quick peck on the forehead, silencing her.

Serena looked at herself in the mirror, quickly tucking in a flyaway hair before taking a deep breath, it was uncomfortable having Blair and Nate at the same place, but that's not a big deal, just got to keep cool and then her and Dan can leave and head back to the loft or something.

She nodded at herself reassuring in the mirror before leaving the bathroom, but as soon as she stepped out, her eyes widened as she saw Nate walk into the hallway. Fuck.

She did a polite smile and began to walk past him.

"Funny how you can barely look me in the eyes nowadays," He said mockingly.

Serena didn't turn back towards him, "I don't know what you're talking about Nate,"

"Okay, they why don't you turn around and look me in the eyes when you talk." He challenged.

Serena closed her eyes, willing herself to be more in control of the situation, before turning around confidently and looking him square in the eyes, "What the problem?" She asked, but her voice came out not as confident as she would've liked, and when he didn't reply right away, it was hard for her to look into the icy eyes, and her eyes faltered.

He smirked, "Nice try. But why don't you tell me what the problem is? Why are you ignoring my calls, why can't you even talk to me anymore? And who the fuck is this new fake Serena? Do you really have to avoid me and Blair to pretend to be happy with your boyfriend?" He questioned callously.

Serena frowned, "You know what, you can think what you like, but I don't need to stand here and listen to this crap." She announced, before turning to leave, but he was too quick and had moved to block her way, "Nate what the hell?" She demanded trying to shove him out of her way but he didn't budge, "This is just sad."

"You know what's sad, that this is the only way I can get you to talk to me, that's fucking sad!" He spat out, "Why the hell are you avoiding me?"

Serena's eyes widened, she couldn't stand to be this close to Nate, and it was really messing with her head again. "Okay, I need to get out of here," She muttered, as she made to get past him but he grabbed her arm impatiently.

"Serena."

There was something about his voice that was stern yet gentle, and Serena had the stronger urge to just kiss him. She had to get away from him as soon as she could, but it wasn't just his strong hold that kept her in place, it was his paralyzing eyes as well.

"It shouldn't be this hard to be alone with me," He whispered in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. He was so close to her that she could almost feel his heart thumping through his chest. Her hand slowly rose to rest against his chest, and she finally looked up into his eyes again.

"Nate." She whispered, almost in a plea. Dan and Blair were right around the corner and probably wondering what was taking them so long. She could not be caught like this, she was trapped between the wall and his body, and their lips were treacherously close. There were so many things wrong with this situation, and her brain was screaming for her to move and go back to Dan, but her traitorous body would not budge.

Nate didn't know how he let them end up like this, one moment he was just so angry with her and just wanted to force her to talk to him, and the next he has her against the wall and his eyes were glued to her lips, and their breathing was picking up anxiously. He couldn't do this, and that was more obvious than anything in this situation. He was with Blair, he loved Blair, and he would never cheat on her…again. She had been so hurt the first time, he had messed up so bad, and had felt so guilty about the whole thing. He just couldn't go back to that place. Serena did not want to be with him, she wouldn't want him to break up with Blair for her, and he wouldn't want that either. They were two different people in two different lives, and they were only meant to be friends. He knew all these things but it was near impossible to move away from her… what was it about her that was so damn irresistible? This was wrong; he couldn't risk his relationship for something that's not even real. Serena doesn't want to be with him. Nate clenched his jaw, as he mustered up the strength to pull away from her. But just as he took a step back, she grabbed his collar.

There was a momentary second where they looked each other in the eye and before Nate knew it she had crushed her lips against his. And it was like instantly all the previous thoughts had washed out of him as he crushed her against the wall, urgently attacking her lips back. And it was like the two had been anxiously waiting for this moment as they roughly pulled at each other, their lips attached in a bruising kiss. Serena moaned breathlessly as he led kisses down her neck, before dominantly claiming her lips again. Their tongues wrestled between their mouths, wanting to get as close as possible.

This was almost déjà vu from the night at the bar, the first time they had kissed. And it was like simultaneously they realized where that had ended, and all the consequences of that night, and it was like cold water thrown at them as they pulled away from each other, eyes wide.

"Oh fuck," Serena groaned, and almost on cue Nate felt his phone vibrate in his coat and he pulled it out to see Blair calling.

'Blair, I'm coming." He answered quickly before turning it off and looking back at Serena, "What just happened here," He asked with a frown.

"This is why we cannot be alone together Nate," Serena said, guilt beginning to suffocate her, "We just… we're both in relationships… oh my god, Blair and Dan… we just cheated on them." She whispered stricken. How could she have let this happen? How could she have kissed Nate! What was wrong with her, she just cheated on Dan.

"That was amazing, let's be real, we both equally want that. And I know we just messed up, but if we are honestly unable to keep our hands off each other alone, then there is a bigger issue here that can't be resolved by just avoiding each other, you realize that right?"

Serena shook her head, "I cant believe this!"

"What happened Serena?" Serena turned around cringing when she saw Dan walk towards them, "What took you so long and what can't you believe?"

Her heart almost stopped in panic.

"I was just telling her about the present I'm thinking about getting Blair for her upcoming birthday." Nate filled in quickly, "I just met her in the hallway and decided to run a few things by her about Blair's birthday and I need her to help me throw her a surprise, cause who really knows Blair better than Serena." There was nothing friendly about the way Nate spoke to Dan, but the excuse was enough to buy for Serena to compose herself.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I took so long, we can go now," Serena said quickly, and Dan nodded before turning to leave.

"Serena, think about what I said," Nate whispered to her before she left.

A/N Okay so clearly this story was started like four years ago and has been left hanging, I just read it myself last night and really wanted to update more. I felt like there was so much chemistry between NS that they needed something besides the aghast, like friggin kiss already.

Okay so clearly this is gonna make things a lot messier for everyone involved, especially S and N.

Not gonna reread it to edit it I hope its okay, I have an exam in two days I'm crazy to even do this…

Okay gotta go! I don't know if anyone even remembers this story from 4 years ago, but I guess I'm doing this more for myself lool. Okay enjoy if theres any readers!