So so so so so SORRY! That it has taken forever to get this up – you have no idea how busy I have been its crazy!!

Nate woke up and pulled out his track pants and t-shirt from his bag he pulled them over his tired limbs and headed towards the gym. He always went for runs when he became frustrated especially in New York and since he couldn't run far on the boat the only way to blow his steam was to hit the gym.

He turned his Ipod on and looked down at the song that appeared on the screen Manchestra Orchestra – I Can Feel a Hot One. He stepped on the cross trainer and began to run as fast as he could, all his thoughts running through his minds all the ways that he could try and fix them running through his mind. He let go off his Ipod as something entered his mind the mp3 player flew out his hands and onto the floor 3 metres away.

"Wow – this music really gets you pumped for a work out?"

Nate looked up to see the girl.

"It puts me in the mood to think about things." Nate replied.

"It's... it's a bit depressing don't you think? Don't you need more upbeat music?"

Nate looked at the girl and smirked "Like I said it puts me in the mood to think."

"... about what?"

Nate sighed and looked back up at the girl "Can I please have it back... so I can carry on – thinking?"

"Not until you tell me what you're thinking about?"

"Blair – please just give me my Ipod back."

"You see Nate out of all the years I dated you not once did you take time out to listen to this song and run at 27km per hour."

"You don't know that, you were too involved with yourself to notice what I did." Nate shot back.

Blair opened her mouth in shock "I'm going to act like I didn't hear that one. So what did Jenny do that made you so upset you had to come into the gym and run your little heart out?"

Nate shook his head "This has nothing to do with you Blair, so you can go back to your den."

"Trust me I would love to but Chuck has one of his moods happening and it isn't a safe place to be right now. But I have all the time in the world to hear what is wrong with you."

Nate sighed again "You're not going to leave till I tell you."

Blair nodded her head and smiled. Nate walked past her and sat on the bench slapping the spot next to him so Blair would sit next to him.

Blair looked at Nate and admired his beauty for a while.

"So tell me what happened, why are you here?"

Nate looked at the ground and put his hands in between his knees.

"Damien was on the boat and Jenny lied to me about it so I when I found out he was on the boat I went to his room and waited for Jenny, then we got into this argument and I kicked her out the room, she was going to leave the boat once we docked up in Rome –with Damien. They had planned this drug deal beforehand, Serena and I tried to stop her but it didn't work. Then last night she came to my room and... we argued again."

"Did you ask her why she came back to the boat?" Blair replied to Nate with sincerity.

"There was no point." Nate looked at Blair.

"She obviously cares about you Nate or she would have stayed with that dirty smuggler."

"She's 17 and I don't think she merely grasps the concept of caring Blair. The whole thing was for people to see her in a new light to see her as a mature adult so her dad would treat her like us – but sleeping around doesn't exactly make her mature." Nate widened his eyes and looked over at Blair.

"She slept with him" Blair eyebrows shot up. "You shouldn't be hypocritical."

"What do you mean by that?" Nate asked Blair

"She may have slept with Damien but... you've slept with many girls Nate and even she doesn't question you about that she foresees what has happened and lets it go not caring what you do as long as you don't do it to her" Blair sighs "Which I might add you are, remember?"

"Not any more Blair – things aren't happening between us anymore and she knows that, I know that and now you know." Nate looked at Blair.

Blair rolled her eyes "Archibald stop being such a pain and figure things out. Listen to why she came back to the boat and hear her side of the story."

Blair got up and began to walk out the door.

"We constantly fight it's not a healthy relationship!" Nate called out trying to think of another excuse.

Blair turned around and put her hands on her hips "are you kidding the more you fight the more passionate the makeup sex is, so stop making up excuses and man up."

Blair left the room. Nate took out his phone and looked down at it – they fought way too much for a couple, they had already tried before and so many things would hold them back from being together in New York – he put the phone back in his pocket and left the gym.

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Jenny walked up to the reception and saw the young brunette at the counter.

"Hi, I just wanted to sort some room changes out –if that's ok?"

"Yeah sure and your name was?"

"Jenny Humphrey, I was sharing a room with Nate Archibald the room number is 110 – but since then I have moved into a room with Damien Delgard that's room 270."

The young receptionist started to type things into her computer changing faces as she typed different things and pulled up many screens.

Jenny felt a hand touch her waist.

"You can stop what you're doing. Sorry for wasting your time." The male smiled at the receptionist and pulled Jenny aside.

"What are you doing?"

Jenny hesitated to answer but did any way to save the hassle "I'm permanently making Damien's room mine, why?"

"If you do that your brother will get angry and wonder why you moved out in the first place, so just come back."

Jenny nodded her head "No thanks."

"Jenny please don't make this difficult – I'm doing this to be nice and so we can talk about what happened, sweep it under the rug and just carry on being whatever we are, whatever you want... us to be."

The receptionist walked over to Jenny.

"The room was only booked and paid for up until Rome – unless you want to pay for it now and carry on staying in the room for the rest of the trip, you'll have to move out."

"Oh" Jenny dropped her head to the floor "Thanks."

"No worries." The receptionist smiled and walked away.

"Friends. That's what I want us to be... friends – just like you said."

Nate nodded "Ok."

"So I should probably go and get my stuff... before they throw it overboard."

Nate laughed "Ok."

Jenny turned on her heel and walked away.

As she reached the room 270 she reached for her key and unlocked the door walking in she went straight towards the bedroom.

She picked her things up off the ground and threw them back in her back, she went into the bathroom and retrieved her personal hygiene items and put them inside her bag – she zipped it up and walked through the room looking for things she may have left behind. She found nothing.

She bent down and tried to lift her bag up forgetting how heavy it was and not remembering that it was Damien who had carried the bag all the way from room 110 to 270.

She moaned "I'm not going to be able to do this."

She took her phone out the pocket and called Nate.

"Hey my bag is too heavy for me to carry. Can you please come and help."

"Thanks."

Jenny smiled as she hung up the phone.

She walked over to the couch and sat on it waiting for Nate to come and save her... once again.

Jenny heard knocking at the door and knew straight away it was Nate; she got up from the couch quickly and walked over to the door opening it with hesitation.

"It's in the bedroom." Jenny smiled.

Nate walked past her and into the room.

Nate tried lifting the bag and could just lift it.

"What do you have in this bag, Damien's body?"

Jenny laughed "You'd like that. But sadly it's just clothes."

Nate walked around the corner carrying the bag. Jenny widened the door so he and the bag could fit through.

"Thanks." Nate whispered.

Jenny closed the door of the room and what would hopefully be her past.

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Jenny was lay on her bed listening to music when she saw Lily appear around the corner.

Jenny's eyes widened as she wasn't expecting her, she removed the earphones and stood up.

"Sorry, Nate let me in." Lily said apologising

"No that's alright, just wasn't expecting it to be you." Jenny smiled.

"I just wanted to ask you if you remember that there is going to be an extravagant event the day after Port Said in Egypt."

Jenny's forehead crumpled up "Extravagant event?"

"Sorry I meant a ball." Lily corrected herself.

"No I forgot sorry. When is it?"

"It's in 3 days."

Jenny's jaw dropped "I don't have a dress."

Lily nodded "That's ok, there's got to be something you could wear – someone might have brought a spare dress ask Serena she always come prepared."

Lily smiled at Jenny and said goodbye she turned around and left the room.

"If anything Jenny, do not rely on Serena – she probably also forgot her dress."

Jenny laughed at Nates remark.

"Well looks like I won't be going." Jenny sighed.

"They don't sell dresses here?" Nate asked Jenny

Jenny stood there and stared at him.

"Stupid question" Nate told himself.

"Make a dress?" Nate told Jenny

"I don't want to make one – I can't be bothered, I'd rather not go – stay in the room and watch a movie."

Nate looked at Jenny and laughed "Yeah right – if you had to rely on anyone it be Blair, she most likely bought 5 different dresses with her."

"You think." Jenny sat on the couch across from Nate and pulled her legs up into her chest.

Nate nodded his head.

Jenny sat on the couch in a world of her own thinking about her dress – which she didn't have, what the event was going to look like, who was going to be there and what she would like to unfold.

She pulled herself out of her thoughts "I'll talk to her later and see if she has a spare dress."

"Good." Nate smiled and started to flick through the channels.

Jenny walked over the fridge and pulled out the dip and chips. She put them on the coffee table in front of Nate and sat next to him.

"Where'd we get them from?" Nate asked Jenny.

"The kiosk they have here." Jenny grabbed a chip and ate it.

Nate leaned over and grabbed a chip, dipping it in the salsa before eating it.

"Apparently China got fired." Jenny told Nate

"China, as in the girl who worked at the spa and yelled at Eric?"

Jenny nodded her head and put a chip into her mouth "Turns out Eric wasn't the only one she abused – I was with Blair the once and she yelled at her for being too hard on her feet."

Nate laughed "That's expected from Blair."

"True." Jenny laughed

Jenny began to play with her thumbs; things became awkward all of a sudden.

Nate looked over at jenny and began to stare at her looking at her up and down. Jenny could feel him staring but didn't have the courage to look back at him.

"You know they say if you take a picture it lasts longer."

"You have a cockroach on you – I just wanted to see if it could get to your face."

Jenny laughed and nodded in embarrassment "you realised I made that up."

"Yeah, but I went along with it."

Jenny laughed "Well thanks for saving me from embarrassment."

"Anytime" Nate whispered

Jenny looked back over at Nate.

"Sometimes I wonder." Jenny paused "I wonder why I became so messed up and why I became involved with what I did and every single time I can't think of a single answer. It just happened, like a punishment."

Nothing was said for a while.

"You're not messed up; you just went through a stage like any teenager does."

Jenny looked over at Nate "what was your phase?"

Nate took a while to think of an answer.

"There was Blair, drugs, my dad and grandad and then Serena." Nate answered

"Explain what you mean by that." Jenny said aggravated.

"Blair was someone I was forced to be with someone that didn't mean a lot to me but was forced to, drugs was just a way for me and Chuck to kill time whilst our parents screwed around with our lives, my dad because he screwed me around so much, my grandad because I was told I had to follow in his footsteps and for a while - I did and then there was Serena this girl that was just a complete fantasy and I wanted her. When I finally got her I had no reason to chase anymore I had what I wanted... what I loved but it blew over."

Jenny nodded her head "Drugs seem to be the main issue here."

Nate picked up a chip, dipped it and ate it.

"I'm 19 now, more mature I know what I want – kind of and I don't let others effect me. For once I make my own decisions."

Jenny laughed "was that a joke?"

Nate didn't reply.

Jenny's face dropped "Oh sorry – I thought you were joking. But in all seriousness it's true."

"I didn't know that" Jenny was looking for words "that you saw her as a chase."

"I didn't see her as a chase, I had to chase after her that was my thrill – when I finally got her it felt alright for a while and then things began to crumble she could lie to me easily because I trusted her so much, it was based on sexual attraction and not the emotions."

Jenny looked over at Nate "some people are just meant to be friends, as we have realised."

"I should probably go hand in this key to the front desk."

Jenny got up and left the room.

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"Hi, I just came to return my key. I've removed my stuff from the room."

The lady nodded her head and removed the keys from Jenny's hand.

"Jenny!" Someone called out from behind Jenny.

Jenny turned around "Blair, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Nate texted me and said you would be around here."

Jenny nodded her head.

"I have a spare gown, all thanks to Serena."

"Great, should I come get it now?" Jenny gasped.

Blair crumpled her forehead "first you can tell me and about you and Nate." Blair smiled.

"I don't really want to talk about what happened, we are friends for now – that's all you need to know."

Blair looked shocked "So he spoke to you?"

"I guess you could say so. It was more of a 'hey you can move back into the room on one condition, we stay friends' so yeah."

Blair shook her head "Well... that's great at least you two don't have to hide your relationship from people – now." Blair added.

Jenny smiled at Blair and said she had to leave. As Jenny walked away Blair yelled out.

"You can come get the dress whenever you have time; Chuck and I do nothing anyway."

"Thanks." Jenny smiled and carried on walking away.

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Jenny walked back into her room and saw Nate all dresses up.

"Are you coming out to dinner tonight?" Nate asked her

Jenny thought for a few seconds "No, I think I'll just stay here."

Nate nodded his head "Ok, well text me if you need company or anything."

Jenny smiled "I should be fine."

Nate opened the door and walked out.

Jenny sighed in relief and jumped onto the couch reaching for the remote and flipping through the movie channels.

Nothing was on... again.

30 minutes later still sitting on the couch there was a knock at the door, she got up slowly and walked over to the door she opened it and saw Nate standing there.

"I forgot my key, sorry." He apologised.

"That's ok." Jenny smiled

"You're back early."

"Yeah well... wasn't hungry so I didn't really want to waste my time."

Jenny ran a confused look across her face.

"I'm trying to watch a movie, but since there are none on I've been looking at a black screen for the past thirty minutes."

"They never have any good movies on that's why you should watch sport."

Jenny laughed "I don't think so."

Nate ran into the living room and picked up the remote flipping through the channels, Jenny ran after him and started jumping for the remote.

"Nate! Stop you know I can't stand sport!" Jenny yelled.

"Well you know I don't like Fashion TV, but you still made me watch it."

Jenny gushed "You were living in my house with my rules."

"Oh so it's your house now."

Jenny shook her head and jumped up grabbing the remote and running out the room. Nate tackled her to the ground and grabbed the remote.

Jenny paused she looked up and met Nate's eyes. He lent on the remote changing the TV onto the music channel 'The Only Exception by Paramore' began to play. Jenny was still breathing heavily from running around. Nate rolled over so he was no longer laying on her.

"Do you think this will work?" He asked Jenny

"What will work?" Jenny asked confused.

Nate lifted his arms up and put them behind his neck "Friendship."

Jenny rolled over onto her side and looked at Nate.

"It depends on how much we want it... friendship."

Nate sighed and looked back at Jenny.

"I don't know what I want."

Jenny lifted herself up and pushed her back up against the bed so she had something to rest on. Nate followed her and sat next to her.

He looked over at her and she looked back.

"I do." Jenny whispered.

Nate moved his head closer towards Jenny's and placed his forehead on hers.

"And what's that?"

Jenny looked him in the eyes and whispered "you."

Nate lifted her chin up with his hand and placed his lips on hers kissing her passionately. He moved his body and pulled Jenny on top of him so she was sitting on his lap; Jenny wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

Nate laughed "Good."

Jenny got up from his lap and picked the remote up moving back towards the living room. She flipped through the channels until she found the sport, she put the remote on the table and leaned back into the couch smiling at Nate.

"I knew you'd cave into my ways."

Jenny laughed and smiled at him "You have fun watching the sport; I'm going to go see Eric."

"Bye" Nate whispered.