Here's the next one. Happy holidays! Lemme know what you guys think! xo

...

Dan knocked on the door to Serena's apartment and didn't hear a response. He knocked again then turned the doorknob. He cautiously walked in. "Serena?" He walked into the living room and was blinding by the sun shining through the windows. He pulled out his phone to call her and stepped over to the couch. "Serena!" She was huddled in a dark corner and was unresponsive. He knelt over and pulled her to him. Her hand started to dissolve when the light hit it and she let out a painful scream. He let her go immediately. "Serena!?" He brushed the hair away from her face and saw that her face was also burned. She opened his eyes and they focused on him briefly. "Nate…call…Nate."

Dan bolted up and looked around the room, it was hard to see since the floor length windows let the sun in so much and he was being blinded. He spotted her phone in her bedroom and called Nate with trembling fingers. "Hey babe."

"Nate! It's Serena, she's really sick. She won't move and her hand started to burn."

Nate had no idea what he was talking about. "What do you mean she's really sick!? What's wrong with her!?"

Dan felt himself start to panic. "I don't know! I was supposed to meet her here and she's huddled in this dark corner and has burn marks all over her and it's so fucking bright in here I can't really see her face that clearly but it looked scarred and she in barely conscious. I tried to move her but she started screaming."

"What do you mean it's so bright in there?"

"It looks like she took down her curtains, which is weird because the living room is all windows, you know, and it's so bright."

Nate yelled something at Chuck. "I'll be there as soon as I can. You need to cover up the sun, do you understand me? Don't let the sun touch her, throw a blanket over her, get her into the closet. You need to move her into a dark place. Do you understand?!"

"Yes…but.."

"NOW, Dan! Now!"

Dan nodded to himself and tore the blanket and comforter off the bed. There were no curtains in her bedroom either. He ran back to the living room and was about to throw a blanket over her but he noticed that the curtain rod was there. He threw the blankets over them to cover the windows and then ran into the second guest bedroom for more blankets, after a couple of trips the windows were completely covered and he noticed Nate was still on the phone. "I blocked the windows. Should I move her?"

"Carefully, if you can. But more importantly I need you to go to the refrigerator."

Dan was confused. "Uh…okay." He could hear the traffic in the background of Nate's end. He opened the refrigerator. "What am I looking for?"

"Blood bags, like from a blood bank."

"What? You want me to give her a blood transfusion!?" Dan searched through the refrigerator frantically. He checked the freezer. "I don't see any blood."

Nate mentally cursed himself for not making sure they always had extra in case of an emergency. Dan carefully picked up Serena and laid her on the couch. She shut her eyes in pain for a few seconds but at least she wasn't screaming.

"Nate…tell me what else I can do! She doesn't look very good." He heard a lot of back and forth on the other line then another voice was on the phone. "Hi this is Chuck." Chuck could talk people into anything. "I'm going to ask you to do something which is going to sound weird but it's going to be okay, okay? It's not going to hurt you at all and it's going to make her feel a lot better. You want her to feel better don't you?"

"Yes of course." Dan found himself following his instructions in a trance-like state. He took off his coat and held his bare wrist up to Serena's mouth. He repeated Chuck's words verbatim. "Serena, please have some. It's going to make you better." He held his wrist against her lips and gently forced her mouth open. "All you have to do is bite down, come on…please."

Serena bit down with a soft crunch and drank slowly.

Chuck heard the crunch and felt relieved. "What is she doing?"

Dan wasn't sure. He knew what it looked like but it was too weird to say it out loud. "I don't know…it feels kinda good."

Chuck was keeping a close eye on his watch. "Now pull away."

Dan didn't want to but he pulled away anyway. "Okay."

"Go get a napkin and press in against your wound."

Dan got up and went to the kitchen to get a napkin. "Okay."

"Now, how does Serena look?"

"She's not opening her eyes but I can see the color returning from her face."

Chuck hung up the phone and a second later Dan looked up to see both of them walk into the apartment. Nate quickly ran to Serena's side and held up a blood bag to her. Chuck stuck a straw through it. Nate slowly brought her forward and watched her drink more blood. Halfway through the bag her skin started restoring itself. Dan watched in awe as the scars and burn marks faded away and her beautiful skin returned.

Dan wasn't sure why he wasn't running for the hills but he felt oddly comfortable. Nate couldn't help but shoot Dan a dirty look. "Thank you."

Dan nodded. "Of course."

Chuck let out a deep breath and walked back into the room. "Curtains in every room are torn down. I can't find her ring anywhere. It looks like she just showered, maybe this happened while she was in there? Why the fuck would she take it off?"

Nate shook his head. "I don't know. I've told her at least a million times that she needs to leave it on at all circumstances."

Nate gave her another blood bag and heard a knock on the door. It was Chuck's driver who was delivering curtains. Chuck quickly put them up in the bedroom. "It's ready!"

Nate effortlessly lifted Serena and walked her into the bedroom, he placed her carefully on the bed. Dan followed closely behind. The three of them stood next to the bed and watched her in silence.

Serena opened her eyes lazily. She looked at the three of them. Dan locked eyes with her and smiled. Then he remembered he should leave them alone. Nate smiled down at her. "You're okay. We're going to let you rest." The three of them turned to leave.

Serena reach out past Nate and grabbed Dan's hand. "Will you stay with me? I don't want to be alone."

Chuck gave Nate a sharp look. Nate shook his head at him. "It's fine. You can stay if you want." He cleared his throat. "I'll be in the living room."

Nate and Chuck walked out of the bedroom and left them there. Chuck opened his mouth to say something then shut it. "I don't want to talk about it, Chuck. I'm just glad she's okay."

He sat silently to hear what was happening in the bedroom but there wasn't much to hear. Chuck turned on the television. "We're going to find out who did this and they will pay."

Nate nodded. "Yeah. Let's make sure we do that."

After a couple of hours Dan walked back into the living room to see Chuck, Nate and Blair on the couch. "Um, she's asleep. She told me that she was in the shower and went to her closet to get dressed then when she walked back into the bedroom her curtains were gone and she ran back here but it was worse so she was only able to make it to that corner where I found her."

They all nodded in unison because they'd all been eavesdropping. Dan cleared his throat. "She asked me if I'd come back tomorrow and I said yes. Is that okay?"

Nate got up and walked him to the door. "Yeah." He opened the door for him. "I also wanted to thank you…for finding her. I wouldn't have been home for hours. "

"Yeah, no problem. Look, I won't tell anyone about…whatever…I'm still not sure what I saw but…she said she would explain more tomorrow, so, I guess I'll see you then."

Nate nodded. "Goodnight."

Blair looked at him. "Are you okay?"

Nate shrugged. "I'm fine." Blair kissed his cheek. "We'll see you tomorrow."

Nate changed into his pajama pants and quietly climbed into bed next to Serena. She was in a deep sleep. He watched her closely for what seemed like hours until he drifted off to sleep.

…

Nate had been awake for an hour before Serena woke up. She slowly sat up. He quickly went to her side. "Bathroom? Here, I'll help."

She supported her weight on him and he helped her to the bathroom. "Thank you. I can go in by myself." He nodded and closed the door behind her.

After a few minutes she walked out to the kitchen. Nate pulled out a chair at the dining table. "You should drink more." He put a tall glass of blood in front on her.

Serena felt her mouth water and took a big gulp. She set it down and looked displeased. "Wow…this is really a let down after—" she stopped herself when she saw Nate's face. "Never mind." She took another sip.

Nate sat across from her and put a ring down in front of her. "Put it on. And don't take it off ever. I've told you that a million times. God dammit. Do you have any regard for your own safety!?"

"Are you really arguing with me right now? Can you at least wait a couple of hours?"

Nate hit his fist against the table a bit more forcefully than he meant to and it shook.

Serena looked at him sternly. "Nice. You can break everything in here if that will make you feel better."

Nate felt really angry but he knew he needed to relax and not misdirect it at her. "Let me start over. How are you feeling? I was worried sick about you."

"I'm okay. A little shaken up. Who would do this?"

Nate shook his head. "I am not sure yet but we will find out."

She finished drinking and set her glass down. "I'm sorry I even took it off. That was stupid of me, I never imagined anything like this could happen."

"I know." He walked over to her and held his hand out. "Let's get you to bed. You need more rest." She took his hand and followed him to the bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed and he sat next to her. "Are you okay?"

Nate looked at her. "I'm fine."

"Okay just making sure."

"It was hard seeing you with him."

"Nate, I—"

"You don't have to say anything."

"But I—"

"He gave you his blood, I understand that forms some sort of connection. It's something I could never give you, it would never be the same."

"Nate—"

"Please just don't say anything."

She leaned over and pressed her lips against his. Nate pulled away after a second. "You're only kissing me because you know I'm hurting."

"So what? There's nothing wrong with me wanting to comfort you." She kissed him again more deeply.

Nate let his lips linger against hers and pulled away. "I should go. Dan is here, I could smell him from the lobby."

"You don't have to go."

"No it's fine. I have homework and you two probably have a lot to talk about."