The Humphrey Loft, New York
19th January 2008
Blair's eyes felt heavy as she peeled them open, her eyelashes sticking together as a result of her now dry tears. Wincing as the sunlight hit her, Blair turned in place moving so her head was buried against Dan's chest.
Gently running her hand over the tense back muscles, Blair felt a renewed wave of guilt sweep over her. She wasn't doing him any justice getting caught up in her head the way she had this week.
This was a long game they were playing against Georgina and she wasn't going to win by not being able to keep her head in it.
Moving her lips so they lightly encircled the area above Dan's heart, Blair gently worried the skin there until a well developed hickey had formed. The wave of reassurance she felt at staking her claim over his heart reinforced the truth she'd been trying to hide from herself - she wasn't worried about herself or Chuck, they were both too invested in their respective Humphrey to do anything to jeopardize that. But Blair knew Dan was free to date other people while the game was afoot, hell he'd probably need to be seen with another girl or two eventually just to draw Georgina out of the shadows.
Returning her lips to the reddened skin, Blair pressed one soft kiss after the other desperately trying to get her head in the game. Make no mistake, she blamed Dan for this. Before him she would have been cooler than a fucking cucumber but now she had something to lose.
Still Blair knew she could do this… at least she hoped she could.
More than that, Blair knew she had to do this. For Penelope and Hazel, for Serena and Eric. For Jenny and most importantly for Dan and herself. Georgina had attacked people they cared about and that, well that, was waging war.
Feeling her blood pumping sluggishly around her body it took Blair a little longer than usual to notice Dan stirring against her thigh. Knowing she wasn't quite done yet, Blair blindly felt around for a new condom, stretching her arm to the point of pain as she rummaged around in his beside table. Hearing the crinkling foil packet, Blair opened it before gently smoothing it over him.
Aligning their lower halves, Blair gently eased herself onto him, feeling that overwhelming sense of home that she never found when away from him. Fighting to keep still Blair ignored her own desires even as her body thrummed in frustration.
In that moment all she wanted was to feel the peace that surrounded her when she was with Dan. When she was connected with him. So ignoring her body's natural instinct to seek completion, Blair closed her eyes not quite asleep instead just hovering on the edge of consciousness lost in her blanket of security.
Dan felt himself slowly returned to the land of the living, a sleepy smile stretching across his face as he realised he was encompassed by Blair. As her soft hands gently kneaded his muscles diligently working the tension from them, he allowed himself to slowly be eased into wakefulness.
A slight tingling from his chest drew his attention as he finally worked up enough energy to open his eyes. Casting them downward he caught sight of Blair's lips resting on the skin above his heart. Chuckling slightly, Dan shook his head knowing that despite what he was sure she was telling herself, the hickey was for more than just reassurance.
The hickey was also there as a sign of revenge.
He had been waiting, knowing it was only a matter of time before Blair got even for him abusing her skin until it was proudly displaying the letter D. The redness that contrasted gloriously with her creamy alabaster skin continued to make him swell with arousal when it still remained a week later.
Rocking so gently they barely moved, Dan heard Blair's sharp intake of breath and knew it wasn't going to take much to have her come undone. Continuing his minimalistic movements, Dan listened keenly for the change in her breath as it fanned across his chest.
Closing his eyes as he got closer to his own edge, Dan felt her hand wrap around his bicep as she started shaking. Following her into his own release, Dan felt his energy drop again only having enough left to groan in displeasure as Blair moved off him.
Blair brushed Dan's sweaty hair from his forehead before quickly moving towards the bathroom to clean herself up a bit. Feeling a little better, Blair shuffled back towards Dan's bed, falling in next to him and returning to her dreams. Their vibrating phones remaining unnoticed on the nightstand.
xoxoxoxo
Vanessa sighed as her hand rested against the window, her knock once again going unanswered. Looking back at Nate, she saw him shake his head as he once again got one of their voicemails.
Forcing her resentment down as she realised Blair coming into Dan's life meant his window was now less likely to remain forever open as a welcome to Vanessa, she slipped her hand in Nate's and tried to think of a new plan.
Wrapping his spare hand around Vanessa's so her hand was sandwiched between his, Nate watched as she got a handle on the negative thoughts that had been showing on her face. While it pained him that it had taken his threat to get her to change her behaviour towards Blair, Nate saw that Vanessa had indeed taken it seriously. During their conversation she even managed to list three characteristics in Blair that she liked.
Nevertheless it was about time he came up with a plan. "Isn't your sister's place nearby?"
Vanessa glanced up at the barely hidden chatter of Nate's teeth and touched her hand to his frosted cheek. "We'll take Dan's blanket as the collateral damage of his lockout."
Continuing down the fire escape Nate held his hands tightly around the blanket refusing to acknowledging his trembling hands. He didn't know how Blair and Vanessa did this as often as they did and showed no fear. They treated it like it was child's play.
Smothering her laugh at the fact that her boyfriend's face was slightly green, Vanessa re-laced their fingers tugging him down the street in the direction of her sister's house hoping that her sister's newest boyfriend wasn't around when they arrived.
The Hamptons, New York
19th January 2008
Pulling his coat tighter around his body, Eric paced the beach wondering why he'd thought that the cool air would actually help. Tempted to throw his phone into the ocean as he left yet another message for Blair, he tried to ascertain whether she was intentionally dodging his calls in an attempt to ensure his decision was entirely his own.
Hearing Cameron's laugh, Eric's head snapped up looking for signs of his… well of Cameron. They never had got to the defining stage. Seeing a tendril of blonde hair peeking out from under a beach umbrella, he hurried in that direction. They were here.
"Jen-" his words cut off as he mumbled out an apology to the middle aged woman he'd accidentally kicked sand on in his attempt to see around her umbrella, "I thought you were someone else, sorry."
When her companion laughed kindheartedly at his apology, he was confused as to how he could have possibly confused it with Cameron's.
Trying to ignore the slump in his shoulders, Eric continued down the beach not realising he was drawing closer to the water until his feet were immersed in it. Despite the freezing temperature, Eric was unable to move out of it. He felt paralyzed as he realised that with the exception of his shower, this was the most water he'd been in since the night of the pool incident.
Letting the water flow over his feet, Eric focused on the fact that it wasn't going to hurt him. He paid attention to the silence around him, the lack of threat that followed him touching a body of water.
Without giving it too much thought Eric stripped down to his boxers, the frigid wind doing nothing other than clearing his mind somewhat. Running further into the water, Eric submerged himself, letting his mind get lost in the vastness of the ocean.
As his thoughts finally calmed until all he could see was Cameron's split lip and Jenny's concerned face as she looked over the two of them, Eric finally felt guilty about his actions. He knew the hurt in Cam's eyes was more to do with the rejection Eric had bestowed upon him than his physical injuries and he'd been selfish enough to leave Jenny in the middle of it.
Almost as if nature had decided enough was enough, the skies opened up. The patter of rain as it hit the water's surface, though muffled by his immersion, was obvious enough that when coupled with the lowering of the temperature, Eric's head finally cleared of all thought, aside from how unbelievably cold it was.
Fighting the now unruly waves, Eric was startled to see how far from the shore he'd drifted. Focusing on his will to survive, he ignored the burn in his muscles as they protested at the unusual workout.
Finally making it onto the sand, Eric collapsed next to his clothes, his abdomen reflecting the uneven breaths he was pulling in. Suddenly he was really regretting all those doctor's notes he'd had to get him out of swimming whenever it came up in gym over the years.
Once the stinging from the hard rain crashing onto his body was too much to bear, Eric pushed himself to his feet scooping up his belongings on the way. Casting one last glance to the couple he'd mistaken, he saw them running up the beach somehow still managing to have fun despite the weather.
He missed that. He missed being carefree.
He was too young to be this jaded.
Blair had dragged him out of himself enough to get him out of Ostroff and give him enough will to truly carry on but it was Jenny and Cameron who brought him back to life. His best friend had allowed him to bathe in the halo of sunshine she always attempted to hold on to. While Cameron had shown him love didn't need to come with strings attached. He had shown him that love makes people do stupid things like getting into bar fights and running away to the Hamptons to avoid your problems.
But Cameron had also shown him that love was meant to be fought for, that when the one you love was already in pain you are not meant to hurt them further and Eric knew that was what he was doing, so with that in mind Eric stepped up to the door, determined to find Chuck and get the hell out of here.
As he turned the handle he realised one small problem with his plan. Just like that all his plans were going to be delayed because of a lock.
xoxoxoxo
"You better tell me what is going on with my brother Chuck." Serena pushed her hands against his chest not willing to let this drop. "I don't care what promises you made, he's my brother and it is my job to protect him."
Chuck scoffed as he swatted the blonde's hands away from him. "I don't care what you want Serena. This is not about you. When are you going to get that through your thick head?"
At this point in time Chuck only had one course of action and that was that whatever Eric said went. The kid had been teetering on the edge for weeks and it was no surprise this was the thing that pushed him over. "Besides what help could you really provide to him. Your favourite solution to problems of any kind is to run away from them."
Ignoring the hurt look in Serena's eyes, Chuck continued. "Sleeping with your best friends boyfriend after toying him along all these years, instead of facing what you did and the people you hurt, you ran. You didn't get to watch Blair's walls climb higher than they'd ever been."
"You weren't around to witness her fall so hard that she ended up in the hospital because the only thing she felt she could control at that point was her body and she was throwing up to the point that her body shut down. You didn't watch as Nate deserted his girlfriend in her time of need because he was too ashamed to look her in the eyes."
Chuck forced himself to speak past the lump that formed in his throat as he recalled everything that happened under the surface of the shiny façade that was 'Blair', 'Nate' and 'Chuck'. "You didn't have to watch as every attempt you made to get through to the people you had once called your friends went unanswered and you floundered before deciding that if everyone else was going to give up why couldn't you." Ignoring his burning eyelids Chuck pushed forward knowing it might be the only chance he had. "You didn't get to feel the shame each time you woke up next to a woman at least five years older than you who didn't even remember your name. You didn't have this because you weren't there. You ran away and left us all to deal with the aftermath alone."
Turning away from her, Chuck collected himself before looking into her eyes making sure she understood the seriousness of what he was about to say. "So no, I am not going to tell you what you want to know because unlike you, Eric is a fighter. He has his moments of weakness - admittedly less of them since your return - but he is a fighter nonetheless. He will fight when the rest of us have decided to give up. He will remind himself of those he holds dear and he will do anything and everything in his power not to let those people down and unlike the rest of us, your brother knows how to own up to his mistakes. If he messes up he faces it, he doesn't hide in the shadows or buries it under justifications."
"I trust your brother to make the right decision and I'll be here to witness that when it happens but don't think for one minute that it is not going to happen. And quite honestly have you even thought about the fact that if you don't know what's really going on with Eric than maybe you don't deserve to." With that said, Chuck turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, wiping at his eyes as the tears he'd been fighting to keep at bay finally fell.
Who knew he was just as damaged by the events of the last two years as Blair and Nate were?
Though he wouldn't tell anyone but her, Chuck wished Jenny was here, she made him feel like he was worth something, that he was capable of doing right by other people. She took what Blair had planted as a seed in him and made it grow strong.
Serena stared after Chuck frozen in place as his parting words echoed in her head. She kept trying to be a better sister, she really did but it felt like she was still at the starting line when everyone else was on the last leg of the race. How had it gotten to this? She remembered a time when Eric would come to her about anything and now it seemed like she was the last person on Earth he would even consider talking to.
As the recently familiar ball of jealousy knotted itself in her stomach, Serena snatched up her phone, barely pausing to think through her actions before she pressed the speed dial number she was searching for.
Listening to ring after ring, Serena kept calling back. One way or another she was going to get to the bottom of this despite what Chuck said. So regardless of the fact that it caused bile to rise in the back of her throat, she left message after message on Blair's voice mail. As if there was one person she was sure Eric trusted more than anyone else, that was the person he voluntarily called his sister.
Penelope's Apartment, New York
19th January 2008
Kati looked up as Isabel gracefully rose from her perch at the end of the bed where she'd been painting her toenails. "Is?"
"Penelope's been gone too long, I'm going to find her."
Quickly falling into place behind her friend, Kati recalled the look of pure relief that had crossed Penelope's father's face when they'd shown up at her front door, their sleepover packs in hand. Whenever they weren't attending Blair's annual sleepover - or soirée as Blair had insisted on it being called this year - they funnily enough usually showed up much as Jenny had that fateful night. The few birthday parties Blair had invited them to stay over after ended in junk food and cheesy movies while they all laid around in their ratty old pajamas knowing that they were in a judge free zone.
Back to the matter at hand: finding Penelope or as Kati liked to call it 'finding the body snatcher that replaced her friend'.
She knew Penelope had been spooked since New Year and that the others somehow were involved but Is and her had respected Penelope's privacy especially given that Gossip Girl was apparently awarding her the same respect.
Now though she couldn't help the shiver of dread from running up her spine.
Finally seeing Is had a lead, Kati hastened her steps until she found herself frozen in the doorway of the second floor bathroom.
Her eyes widened as she took in Penelope who had curled in on herself, her fetal position managing to hide everything except the blood that had been rubbed across the back of her hand.
Unlike her other half, Is had glided across the room effortlessly scooping Penelope in to her embrace. Having done this a half dozen times in the last two months for her mother. Isabel just focused on easing Penelope's shakes.
Finally snapping out of her daze, Kati helped ease Penelope off the floor all the while wondering to herself how many more of their friends Is and her were going to have to do this for. How many more of them were going to struggle with gaining control of their lives.
Leading Penelope back to her bed, Kati helped Penelope under the blankets while Is grabbed Sergeant Pepper, Penelope's plush pig, from her desk chair and handed it to the unstable brunette.
Now that they'd pulled her hands away from her lips, Kati winced as they saw where the blood had originated from and she was hesitant to ask how she even managed that. Luckily Is did it for her.
"What happened Pen?"
Waiting quietly as they watched Penelope's breathing stabilize, Is wondered if it was time they were filled in on what was really going on.
"I just…. I could still feel the lipstick and I just wanted it gone. She's still in my head, her laugh echoing around in there like some cruel form of mental torture."
After sharing a brief look with Kati, Is knew she was going to have to completely take the lead on this one. "You trust me right?" Pausing until Penelope nodded, Is reached into her own bag and pulled out her lip balm. "Okay, so we don't need to know names but what happened that night?"
As Penelope explained once again what had happened on New Years she was surprised to find that it had gotten easier to talk about with each person and for the first time she held actual hope that she would be able to get over this.
"Alright, step one…"
Kati's eyes widened as she watched Is wrap her hands around the sides of Penelope's face before crushing her lips onto the stunned brunette's.
Pulling away after a few seconds, Is kept a hold of Penelope's shaking hands and waiting for the anxiety to visibly pass. "How do you feel?"
The stunned confusion on Kati and Penelope's faces proved that they really had no idea where she was going with this. "Touch your lips."
Penelope felt her eyes mist over as her fingertips connected with the sticky caramel lipgloss.
"And we're going to sit right here for as long as it takes for you to process that one bad encounter shouldn't ruin every following one."
Feeling Penelope's tremors increase, Kati frowned looking towards Is for an explanation but as she went to say something Penelope wrapped her arms around their friend, holding her close as if she was unable to express the depth of her gratitude with words. In a way Kati figured the assumption was actually quite astute.
Locating the bottle of nail polish she'd finished with earlier, Kati started her second coat as she listened to the conversation around her, chipping in when she felt it appropriate. "Do you remember when Blair's dad took us to see Finding Nemo?"
"Yeah we were… what, eleven? Definitely old enough to go to the movie by ourselves but he insisted that it was a movie for dads and their kids." Penelope's laugh at the end had genuine emotion in it as she remembered watching Harold turn purple in the face as he managed to somehow convince all of their usually 'too busy to even remember they have kids' fathers to go to a children's movie.
"Your dad was the only one who said yes straight away." Kati's voice was quiet as she recalled the look of joy on Penelope's dad's face as he had a real excuse to turn his work phone off and just spend the day with his daughter. Penelope had something the rest of them didn't but somehow whenever Blair's dad was around he managed to make them feel like they were his daughters too. Something Blair never took too well.
"Yeah the next thing we know, father's who we didn't know owned anything other than suits decided casual dress Friday was in order and showed up in sweatpants and jeans."
"You have to admit Maura's dad really managed to pull off that casual look real well." Is got a faraway look in her eye as she thought about the one dad she'd always had a crush on.
"Mr Lake?" Kati chuckled as she recalled when he came to school a few months ago in his work suit and the all the females at Constance had simultaneously stopped what they were doing and drooled after him.
"Jake certainly knows how to loosen up when he needs to,"
"Jake? Really?" Kati wasn't sure how none of them had been aware of Penelope's activities with the man but it certainly made sense now as to why Penelope had seemed surprisingly comfortable anytime he came around them.
"What can I say, he knows how to make a girl feel really special and I know- well knew how to not make him feel so old. It wasn't anything serious but it was fun while it lasted."
Seeing a light to Penelope's eyes that had been missing for a while, Isabel fought to keep herself from doing a happy dance. Her plan had succeeded. She was more than aware that it was a risky move that could have caused Penelope to regress even further inside herself but Is had believed in the strength of the fight she'd always seen in her friend.
Still Is knew there were a few things that needed to be cleared up. "So Chuck and Nate's fight… was that part of the plan?"
Fighting against the urge to flee whenever 'the plan' was brought up, Penelope nodded slightly. "I'm not really involved in the planning stage as much or at all really but I'm pretty sure that was staged."
"It had to have been otherwise Blair would have killed Nate for interfering with Chuck and Jenny to the point of a physical altercation." Ignoring the looks they shot her way for using 'physical altercation' - an SAT approved word - instead of 'fight' Kati quickly continued talking. "Don't you remember when Chuck called Nate out on his treatment of Blair last year and Nate called him a hypocrite in response continuing until Chuck sucker punched him. Once Blair got over the embarrassment she was ready to kill them both and focused her anger on Chuck as he was the only one of the two paying her any attention."
While Penelope hadn't actually been present at the time she was well aware of the aftereffects. Nate had become even more distant than what was usual for the brooding stoner and Chuck had almost become stuck to Blair's side hovering over her like she was going to fall apart at any moment. An action that had just made their Queen B even more demanding than usual.
Deciding a lighter mood was in order Kati hoped off the bed wiggling her freshly dried toenails as she peered at the other two. "So… what's for lunch?"
Mrs Lebnitz's Forest Like Backyard, New York
19th January 2008
"Ow…ow…ow…would you stop walking so fast?" Cameron's whining came to a holt when he caught sight of the look on Jenny's face. Immediately a flood of guilt overwhelmed him.
He knew that outwardly she was projecting annoyance at his behaviour but you didn't get to re-gain the title of best friend without knowing how to read that person. Sure, before they'd bumped into each other at Maritza's that fateful day they'd been out of touch - something he knew was his fault given he was too much of a cowered to call her, worried about her having changed her mind about him given his inability to stay in one place. But despite all that she was his Jenny-bean and he knew how to read her better than the back of his hand.
So it struck him as odd that he hadn't noticed just how well Jenny had been taking everything that had happened to him.
He remember the pigtailed, dirt stained tiny blonde who had gone from standing up for him to crying on the ground next to him once the bullies had finally left. The girl who cringed when someone killed a fly and who spent many Friday nights weeping on the couch as they watched one of her many teen drama shows. In other words Jenny was someone who was open with her emotions and this non-responsiveness was freaking him out.
Reaching out he wrapped his hand around her wrist fighting the pain that jarred up his arm, when she ripped her wrist from him. Finally taking note of their surroundings, Cameron wondered if she was even aware of where she was leading them.
Slipping into a not entirely awkward silence, Cameron trailed behind her pondering how much longer he'd have to wait until she finally broke.
About five minutes later after catching himself to stop him from crashing into Jenny's still form, Cameron noticed her hands shaking slightly and took her gloved one in his and felt her squeeze it back as the found their clubhouse was still somewhat standing.
Jenny felt tears fill her eyes as she found where she had unconsciously lead them to. This was the place where all their major secrets had been shared. Jenny had told Cameron about her mum's unreasonable expectations. Cameron had explained how he sometimes hated himself for being unable to stay with her, that he felt like the worlds biggest ass because despite how much he wanted Jenny to be enough, she wasn't enough to keep him grounded.
It was where Jenny told him that while she wanted more than anything to fit in at her school but didn't want to lose herself. It was where Cameron had told Jenny that he didn't fit into the 'normal' categories of orientation, rather he just loved to love and he didn't care who that person was.
Pushing the door carefully open, Jenny wrinkled her nose at the smell but continued in anyway.
Cameron's breathe was expelled in a rush as he caught sight of the various treasures Jenny and he had left over the years. They hadn't been back there since he was twelve and Jenny eleven… it felt like a lifetime ago. But somehow despite the length of disuse, the photo's they'd tacked to the wall were still there. Sure they were somewhat worn but the various gap toothed smiles the two of them had shared over the years were still visible.
Hearing the sobs slipping through Jenny's lips, Cameron rushed over, pulling her into his arms. It hurt him to see her in pain.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Though she was trying to convey only anger, the crackling of her voice and the tears still flooding her eyes gave her away. "There were three of them, you're lucky Chuck came when he did. If those guys had gotten back up… that was the stupidest thing I think you've ever done. And that's a pretty high bar already."
Pulling her closer, he fought to keep the pain off his face as his body shock in time with hers. "I'm so sorry."
"No. That's not enough this time. Look at you! You can't even hug me without wincing."
Watching as her hands balled into fists, Cameron knew there was nothing she wanted more than to punch him for his stupidity but that wasn't in the cards for today. Not only could he not physically take it but she wouldn't be able to emotionally deal so it was his job to diffuse the bomb that he'd made Jenny into.
Lowering her onto the plastic chair, he desperately hoped it didn't decide to give out any time soon. "It was stupid. It was irrational. But most importantly it was deserved. You somehow made peace with what Chuck nearly did to you. You've forgiven him for some reason I don't really understand but I'm not going to fight you on that."
A heavy sigh left his lips and he wondered when it was that their lives got more complicated than what flavour of ice cream they were going to eat that day. He suspects it was somewhere around fifth grade.
"Eric didn't. Eric couldn't. You saw him, he barely slept this month because of his nightmares. And it was all that asshole's fault." Bringing her eyes to his, Cameron kept his eyes trained on her knowing it was important for her to understand this. "I'm sorry my actions hurt you and Eric but I'm not sorry about the actual act." Running a hand through his hair as he fought to keep himself under control, he turned away from her and began pacing. "You have no idea how good it felt to hear his flesh impacted by my fist. To watch the growing fear in his eyes as he finally understood just how fucked up what he'd done was."
Leaning against the wall, he watched as Jenny processed everything he had just told her.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Jenny nodded once before she stood herself and moved closer to her best friend. Gently wrapping her arms around his neck, she thought about what she would be willing to do for him, for Chuck or Eric, for Dan or Blair even for Serena and she understood where that irrationality could come from.
"Okay." Running a hand gently over his forehead she winced at the smattering of bruises covering his usually flawless skin. "It's going to be okay. Eric will eventually come around. He loves you too much to not."
Cameron smiled as he breathed more easily he had since this whole nightmare started. For once he believed they were on the true road to recovery.
They stayed like that for a while leaning against the wall as they softly talked through the horror that had been January. It became obvious to them both that even with the humiliation and public disgust, Asher wasn't likely to stop, he'd invested too much in this and so it was going to be a matter of them taking to both Headmistress Queller and Mr Prescott. Despite what they all liked to believe they were all still kids and this was too much for them to deal with.
Resting her head against his shoulder, Jenny closed her eyes letting herself get lost in the serenity that accompanied being in this place. Reasonably secluded from the world. Feeling the fight leave her body with a series of tremors, Jenny peered up at Cameron and was taken aback and the panic that flared in his eyes.
Focusing more on what was going on around her, Jenny suddenly realised the tremors she was feeling were not internalized, rather it was years of neglect coming back to bite them.
As Cameron pushed her towards the door, she felt panic grip her insides. "Run!"
New York Penitentiary, New York
19th January 2008
Nate stepped across the driveway the gravel crunching beneath his shoes as he looked up at the imposing fence. Feeling a hand wrap around his arm as it slowly encouraged him forward, he looked over at Vanessa and smiled slightly feeling his nerves decrease.
"Thanks for coming with me."
Vanessa looked up at him, tracing his features with her eyes as she tried to figure what was best to say to him. "Any time."
Despite her brave face, Vanessa had to admit the security surrounding the prison was unnerving her. But this was Nate's dad and she needed to be here for her boyfriend.
Ignoring the people around them, Nate went through the motions until he found himself sitting in front of his father for his visitation.
"Has your mother changed her mind?"
Nate sighed. He wasn't sure why he was so disappointed at the lackluster greeting. His father had spent Nate's whole life being all about 'the captain', the things he did for Nate inevitably benefitting The Captain as well.
"Hi dad. I'm fine, thanks. How are you?" Seeing The Captain roll his eyes, Nate figured the sooner he answered his father's question, the sooner he'd be out of here. "No she hasn't. And she's not likely to. I figure she likes seeing you in an orange jumpsuit, even if it is just through photographs she pays the security team to send."
It shocked Vanessa to hear Nate speak so candidly. Very rarely had she seen him call someone out on their shit. Honestly other than herself she couldn't ever recall that happening.
Tightening his grip on Vanessa's hand as he saw the flash of pain cross his father's face, Nate had to remind himself that The Captain put himself in there. It was his fault that he'd let his relationship with his wife get to the point that she refused to post bail. That she felt safer and avenged seeing him behind bars. Finally miserable in the way she had been all these years.
They sat their in silence for a good ten minutes, each second causing Nate's hopes to drop a little further. Running his eyes over the man he'd once looked up to Nate wondered if he was ever worthy of that worship. The frail looking man sitting before him, swallowed by the orange jumpsuit just looked pathetic. In a moment of spite he wondered when the last time his father had even looked in a mirror long enough to see how far he'd fallen.
"You know what this was a mistake." Shaking his head Nate got to his feet, Vanessa following him as he headed towards the door. "I came here to tell my father about what had changed in my life… you know aside from the aforementioned guy going to jail."
"Nate…"
Ignoring his girlfriend's warning Nate barreled forward wanting just once to tell his father the truth. "I came here to tell you about Vanessa, my girlfriend, a relationship that for once in my life has nothing to do with what's best for you. I came here on the off chance that just once in my life you'd take an interest in what was going on in my life as it relates to me. Your son. Not your successor or your investment. Not your endorsement or a shining example of your business savvy. But I can see my time was wasted. Goodbye Captain."
With that Nate left the room, fighting off the tears as he finally came to terms with the true relationship he had with his father.
Slumping against the outside wall, he felt Vanessa slide down next to him, encouraging him to rest his head against her shoulder. Unable to fight any longer he felt his body shaking as silent tears slid down his cheeks. For now he was in mourning. He'd finally reached the acceptance stage of the five stages of grief, it had just taken him up to this point to realise there was something that needed grieving at all.
The Woods behind Mrs Lebnitz's house, New York
19th January 2008
Cameron groaned as he slid his hand down his side trying to reach his pocket. Breathing a sigh of relief as he found his phone, he pulled it out quickly calling 9-1-1. Ignoring the pain in his body, he went responded to the emergency operator as quickly as he could determined to get them help as soon as possible. Finally ending the call, he kept his ears strained for the sound of the sirens, while trying to figure out how far Jenny had gotten before it had all come crashing down.
"Jen?"
Pulling himself into a sitting position, he threw a grateful look towards the stone bench that had kept the table he was sheltered under from collapsing completely. Easing himself out from under it he called her name once again hoping that she somehow she'd managed to remain conscious and was just having a hard time hearing him at the moment.
Finally catching sight of her beanie, he pulled himself in her direction proud to see she'd taken shelter in the doorway, the archway having survived the sudden structural strain after years of neglect, though it hadn't provided much in the way of cover and it appeared Jenny had been tripped up and knocked her head on the floor.
Careful not to move her, he tried to take note of both of their injuries. Thinking back to his first aid course he knew things weren't as bad as they seemed and it was likely a lot of superficial wounds but until he got the all clear he just had to hope they'd get out of here just fine.
Finally the wailing of sirens hit his ears causing Cameron to cry out Jenny's name in relief, hoping that it would encourage her to respond. As her blue eyes slowly peered up at him he felt a surge of hope flood his system as he bent down so he could talk to her. "That's good Jen. I need you to stay strong for me."
The Humphrey Loft, New York
19th January 2008
Dan sat up in bed, unease pooling in his stomach as he moved over Blair and out of the bed. Hearing a sound from his side table, he found his phone was flashing with an incoming call. Grabbing it, he flipped it open feeling Blair come up behind him, her body pressed against his in support. "Yeah, this is Daniel Humphrey."
Slumping against Blair as he let the words process in his brain, he finally paid attention to the voice on the other side of the phone. "No, I'll tell him. We'll be there as soon as possible. Thank you."
Ending the call, he dialed one last number, not sure how he was going to actually do this. Preparing himself to keep his voice as steady as possible, he moved so that he pulled Blair into his arms. "Dad? There was an incident with Jenny…"
New York Penitentiary, New York
19th January 2008
Nate frowned and wiped his face as his phone rang. "Hello?"
Vanessa watched as Nate's face turned ashen and his recently subsided shakes increased again.
Bolting to his feet, he helped Vanessa up, moving through the jail without casting a single look back at the room that held his father. "We have to go."
Long Island Highway, New York
19th January 2008
As Eric listened to the dial tone signaling the end of the phone, he turned to Chuck as he felt his insides clench painfully.
They were still half an hour outside of the city and he knew this was something that the Chuck couldn't hear while driving.
Disregarding Serena's possible protests, Eric focused solely on Chuck. "Pull over."
Penelope's Apartment, New York
19th January 2008
"Which hospital?"
Mr Shafai, known as Chris to his friends, turned his attention from the football game to the kitchen as he heard his daughter speak into the phone, Kati and Isabel looking pale beside her.
"Girls what's going on?"
Lenox Hill Hospital, New York
19th January 2008
Hazel looked up as she heard familiar voices outside the hospital cafeteria. Placing her hand on top of Andrew's she squeezed it once before getting up the courage to walk towards the panic. "I'll be right back."
Looking up at the girl who'd been by his side since this mess started, Andrew watched as she walked hesitantly towards the door. Knowing what was the right thing to do, he pushed his own mixed feelings aside for the moment and followed in her footsteps, shocked when he found her wrapping her arms around another guy.
Hazel felt tears fill her eyes as she saw the terrified look plastered across Dan's face. "It's going to be okay."
She could see that the others all understood what was being left unsaid. They had to be okay. She wasn't sure any of them would be able to handle anything else.
The entrance doors burst open and Eric and Chuck came running through Serena trailing behind them looking no less worried but still unsure about whether she'd be welcome.
"What happened?"
Eric's question was left unanswered as they all wondered the same thing.
As Dan pulled Blair into his arms, he watched as Nate moved swiftly over to Chuck catching him a second before he hit the floor.
Chuck tried to steady his breath as the world seemed to crash around him. He couldn't lose Jenny. That wasn't an option. But the fact that he was surrounded by the sterile scent of the hospital emergency department suggested that was exactly the case.
Watching as his daughter's friends rallied around one another, Chris felt a bit more at ease knowing that his daughter had a support system for what she was going through. It hurt a bit that she was unwilling to confide in him and it was one of the many times he wished his wife was still alive as he was sure she would know what to do.
Nevertheless, he did what he could as the adult in this situation and went to locate a doctor who would know something.
Serena did a double take as she saw her mother come through the doors followed by Rufus, Bart, Eleanor and Katherine - Blair's family chef.
"Where's my daughter?"
The silence followed Rufus' statement was broken by the chiming of many ringtones. Reluctantly Blair pulled out her phone, hoping that whatever blast Gossip Girl had posted it was not going to cause the ones she loved any further harm.
Nate did the same, grabbing his phone as he moved it so Chuck could see. If on the off chance the gossip blogger was providing any words of comfort his friend needed to see that.
There comes a time when a White Flag must be raised, even if only for a moment. Not yet a month into the New Year and I feel that my favourite people are spending all there time in the hospital - both as patients and as visitors.
Spotted: The whole gang rushing into Lenox Hill. Little J and her motorbike riding friend were seen being admitted not too long ago but no report on their condition has been made yet.
For now lets hope our favourite Upper East Siders and Brooklynites have enacted a temporary truce with Lady Luck. White Flags and Four Leaf Clovers all around my ducklings.
XOXO Gossip Girl
A/N: I felt they needed a little more problems thrown in before life gets all peachy again. As I've discovered in real life, my mother was right when she says bad luck comes in threes. I've lost count of what counts as bad luck for my poor puppets in this story but hopefully things will be on the up and up soon ~ Gabz