Sorry it took so long, I don't really have an excuse, I was just more focused on my other one-shots. Hopefully the next chapter will come out quicker as this one is kind of a cliffhanger.

Enjoy! (:

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When Serena finally made her appearance at the Palace it was not a minute too soon. She was quickly ushered up to Blair's suite by the wedding planner, and while she and Blair put on their dresses Blair worked on catching her blond friend up on everything she had missed in the past twenty four hours.

"And when they finally left me alone in my room, you'll never guess who called." Blair announced, pausing to give Serena a chance to guess.

"Uh, wow. I have no idea, B. Hah, it seems like the sun fried my brains." Serena giggled.

"S," Blair said, shaking her head in amusement. "How was Cabo anyway? We haven't gotten the chance to talk about what you've been up to lately."

"Oh, Cabo is Cabo. You know how much I love the sun at this time of the year, but my stories aren't interesting anyways, you're the one getting married! I want to know everything you've been up to, so tell me, who called?"

"Nate." Blair said, failing to hide the smile that came with saying his name aloud.

It took a beat for Serena to respond, she had stopped playing with her dress and was suddenly standing up straight, looking at her friend in white.

"Nate?" Serena questioned.

"Yes," Blair confirmed. "It was lovely, he took me out to dinner and we got to talking and-"

"B, do you really think it was the best idea for you to go out with Nate on the night before your wedding? I mean imagine how Chuck would feel if he were ever to find out? Wait, ohmygod, does Chuck know?!"

"Yes, Chuck knows. He's been giving me hell for it ever since he found out. Really though, I don't see what the big deal is. Nate's been one of my best friends for my whole life, what's so wrong with wanting to talk to him? Or even going out to eat with him? That's what friends do, they hang out."

"I know that, but really Blair, Nate hasn't always been just your friend, as a matter of fact, he's been your boyfriend so much that you can hardly even look at when you two were just friends."

"Yeah, but it's not like we did anything. I still don't understand what the big deal is. Chuck wanted to get security to kick him out if he showed up, how immature is that? Nate didn't ever do anything to Chuck but Chuck's being prick about the whole situation."

"Blair, really, you know I'm your best friend and that I'll always love you, but you can't honestly tell me that nothing happened between you and Nate. I mean, I believe you if you say nothing physical happened, because I know you wouldn't do that to Chuck, but you can't tell me that you didn't feel anything, being back with Nate at all. You can't say that old emotions didn't flare up, especially because I know that Nate still loves you. You can tell me what really happened, I'm not going to think any less of you, but I think that as your best friend I have the right to know."

"Well," Blair began reluctantly. She knew that Serena wouldn't judge her, but that wouldn't stop her from being very vocal about how heartbroken Chuck would be if he ever found out how much she had really enjoyed spending time with Nate again and how much she planned to do so in the future if Nate still wanted her in his life. It wasn't even that big of a deal, but Serena had developed a strange and unexpected bond with Chuck after becoming his stepsister and his girlfriend's best friend, so any problem that had anything to do with him, she usually took his side.

"Come on, B. Just tell me."

"Okay, well it isn't that big of a deal, but he called me last night, asking me if I wanted to go out for dinner, so I went and we actually had a really good time. It was nice getting a chance to talk to him again, I hadn't realized how much I'd missed him over the years. He just kind of disappeared after I started dating Chuck, so it was sweet of him to reach out to me in order to catch up."

"Well that's really good, Blair, I'm glad you got a chance to hang out with Nate again, but I really think you should have though about how Chuck was going to feel about it. I mean how did he find out anyway?"

Blair rolled her eyes and let out a breath of annoyance. She knew it. Serena and her loyalty to Chuck.

"No, of course I didn't tell him. He found out anyways, the asshole set my room up with a complimentary camera. And already said, it was no big deal. We went out and we had a good time."

"And was that it?" Serena asked skepticly. "I seriously doubt Chuck would have freaked out if you just went and hung out, but if there was a camera in the room, oh Blair."

Blair hesitated.

"Shit, Blair. What happened?"

"He may have spent the night. Here."

Serena just glared.

"We shared the bed. But we didn't do anything, so don't freak out."

"Blair, I honestly don't understand how you couldn't expect me to freak out. You've already started cheating and you're not even married! B, this is so unlike you!"

"It's really not, if you think about it. I mean it could happen to anyone, and I'm still totally myself, I'm just seeing that I might have made a mistake in agreeing to get married so soon. I'm not going back on anything, I was just enjoying myself."

"Yeah, but Blair, you need to start thinking about how Chuck will feel if you enjoying yourself will come at his expense. It's not very fair."

"No, Serena, you know what's not fair? The fact that you always stick up for him and take his side about everything."

Serena opened her mouth to make a retort, but instead took a deep breath and hung her head.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I guess I have been a bit over protective of him since you guys got engaged, huh?"

"Uh, yeah." Blair scoffed, "just a bit."

The blond girl scrunched her face up apologetically.

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to make sure you guys stayed together, I don't think he'd have anyone if it wasn't for you."

Blair rolled her eyes.

"Oh shush!" Serena laughed, lightly backslapping Blair's arm.

"You're forgiven, now could you please help me with this makeup? The stylist that did it totally botched it up, I mean who wears blue eye shadow at their wedding?"

"Not Blair Waldorf." Serena replied sarcastically.

"No," Blair concurred, "certainly not Blair Waldorf."

Serena walked around to the side of the vanity where the makeup was and starting shuffling through it to find something that Blair would approve of.

"How about this one?" She question, holding up a tan shade of Chanel eye shadow.

"Perfect." Blair answered, closing her eyes to allow her friend to apply the makeup.

Serena got the brush right up to her brunette friend's eye when there was a knock heard at the door.

"I'll go get it." Serena said, hopping up and running toward the door before Blair could protest. She had a pretty good idea of who it was, and opened the door to reveal just that. Nate was standing there, looking quite lost with his hands in his pockets and his slightly disheveled hair.

"Oh, uh, hey Serena." Nate smiled sheepishly, like a kid who had been caught with his hand inside the cookie jar right before dinner.

"Hi Nate. Long time no talk, huh?" The blond asked dubiously.

"Yeah, it has been. So is Blair in?" He questioned, shifting his weight to his other foot to get a look inside the suite.

"Mmh, she is. But hold on, I want to talk to you on in the hall for a minute."

"Oh, it's really okay," Nate said, backing away from the door. "The thing I wanted to talk to herabout isn't actually that important, so I'll just be going."

"No, if it wasn't important then you wouldn't be here right now, but you are. And I think we need to have this talk anyways, for your sake, and for Blair's."

Nate sighed, but he walked down the hallway enough so that they weren't right on top of the door Serena had just come out of. He turned around and faced the girl he had, at one point, been so infatuated with. Now he felt nothing looking at her face, mixed with pain and sadness, all for his sake, he knew.

"So what did you want to say?" He asked, sounding a little more annoyed than he would have liked, he hated when people felt sorry for him.

Serena took a deep breath.

"Blair is marrying Chuck." She said pointedly.

"Yeah, I know that." Everyone did, and how could he not? It had been torturing him for some time now.

"I know you do, but you don't seem to understand that you and Blair can't happen ever again. It's over, and it has been for a long time. Please don't do this to her. I know you still love her, but she made a promise to Chuck and that can't be ignored."

"I don't still love her, I've always loved her, and I've always been the best person for her to be with. Chuck got in the way and he's stayed there. I couldn't do anything to change that because I didn't want to lose him as a friend, but I can't let this happen. Her and Chuck have never been right for each other. She's going to regret it."

"She loves Chuck, I know that much. I wouldn't be supporting this marriage if I didn't. And I know that Chuck loves her too. Face it, Nate, you blew it. You might think you've always loved her, but really, if you did then you wouldn't have lost your virginity to me, or ignored her when she needed you. You've got to let her go to Chuck or she'll never forgive you."

Nate shook his head. "No, she'll never forgive you for blinding supporting her getting married to Chuck. It's only a matter of time before he cheats on her. He's impulsive like that. He might love her, but you can't pretend that he'll never hurt her. It's in his nature, and he's only gotten along this far because he's kept quite about his late nights at Victrola."

"Nate, no. Don't say stuff like that. You're still Chuck's best friend. You can't tell anyone else about what he does. I know what he's like; he's my stepbrother, but you can't say he doesn't love Blair."

"See, but look!" Nate shouted accusingly. "You're only defending him because you 'know how he is'. What the fuck is that, Serena? Can you honestly say that you want your best friend to be stuck in a marriage where her husband isn't faithful to her?"

"I'm not saying that at all, Nate, and talk about the pot calling the kettle black? She was already in a relationship when her boyfriend was unfaithful to her, so you can't even be pointing the finger. She wants to be with Chuck, so let her. So help me Nate, if you don't calm down I'll make sure you get thrown out."

"Don't worry, I'm sure Chuck as already tried it; we didn't get along too well when we were having drinks earlier."

"God, Nate, why can't you just drop it? Just let her be happy, please? If you really love her then you will."

Nate sighed, tilting his head to look up at the ceiling.

"I can't do that." He said quietly. "I thought I could; when he told me he was proposing I played the best friend card and I was happy for him and I helped him pick out the ring. And when they made everything public I smiled at all the parties and told everyone how excited I was to see him end up with her. I did everything right, the whole time, but now that I know I've lost... I can't let go of her."

Serena tentatively reached out to take his hand. He allowed her to, but he just stood there, letting the heartbreak roll of of his skin.

"I'm sorry, Nate." She said sadly. "I knew it. This whole time I knew that it couldn't be easy for you. I saw you, trying to be happy and excited at all the parties. It just doesn't work like that. It was the hardest thing in the world for me to see Dan marry Vanessa, but he seemed to be happy, so I let him be. Why can't you do the same for Blair?"

"Because I don't want to, and it's selfish and greedy of me, but we had our whole lives planned out; together. Blair knew everything that she wanted, and I did too. Every good thing in my life has come from her, but now it's all slowly slipping away."

He sighed as he looked down at the ground. Serena was torn between her wanting to help Nate and her obligation to protect Chuck and his feelings, but she knew Nate deserved to be happy too, and in order for him to start living his life, he would need to say whatever he came here to say to Blair.

"Okay, here's the deal. I'm going to let you talk to Blair, but you won't have much time. We really need to be getting back together with the rest of the girls in the wedding party a few hours before the ceremony starts. Can you make that work?"

"Yeah," Nate nodded his head vigoursouly. "Yeah, that's fine. Thank you so much, that'll be perfect. But where will you be?"

"Uh," Serena deliberated. "I guess I'll keep watch at the elevator?" She asked uncertainly.

"Okay. Really, Serena, thanks so much, this means a lot to me."

"I know, Nate. That's why I'm doing it. I know how much you miss her, and I know it'll mean a lot to Blair. She's never forgotten you, even when she was with Chuck at parties, her eyes have never sparkled like they do when she sees you."

He tried to hid the smile of pleasure that came from Serena's reassuring words, but it came out anyways. It felt good to be loved, even if it was someone who he wasn't supposed to have.

"Okay, I'm going to go in now." He said, walking back towards the door.

"Oh, here." Serena reached out and got the key for him. "She's in the bedroom getting ready. Don't make her late, and please, say whatever you need to say and then let her go. If she knew how much you were torn up about her marrying Chuck then she would never do it."

Nate sighed. "I can't promise you that, but I won't go out of my way to let her know how miserable I am."

"Alright, well I'm gonna go now. And if you knew what was best for your friendship with Chuck, then you would get downstairs and help him out with whatever he needs as soon as possible."

"Okay, Serena, I got it. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, okay, bye." She said as she walked toward the elevator.

Nate turned his back on the retreating form of Serena and stuck the key in the door. He made sure to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to let Blair know he was there before he could see her.

"Serena? Who was that at the door?" She called from the back.

"Uh, it was me." He said, walking into the room.

Blair looked up, startled at first, but after seeing him she smiled and ran up to where he stood.

"Oh Nate!" She cried, throwing herself into his arms. "I'm so glad you're here."

"I am too." He smiled, taking her small hand in his and staring into her beautiful brown orbs.