A/N: I want to thank those of you who have stuck with the story so far! I know updates come rather randomly but I am trying! Hopefully this chapter doesn't disappoint. It's the start of a whole new bit of drama...

Please spare a comment, guys! You have no idea how much they mean.

Old Friends Scheme Hard

Jenny was processing.

It had been a week since the restaurant opening; a week since she and Carter had exchanged an 'I love you'; a week since Jenny had spoken the words with all of her attention stuck on a waiting Nate Archibald, who had been privy to her declaration and whom hadn't contacted Jenny since the night in question. Not that she'd tried to contact him either, but they were friends weren't they? Surely he'd be happy that she was in a loving relationship – he'd said as much.

He said he would believe her if she told him she was happy.

And she was happy.

But she was still processing.

And when Jenny Humphrey was processing, she usually created. Today, however, Serena and Dan were busy engaging in some post-engagement bliss at the apartment, and Jenny had found herself hard-pressed to admit that she didn't much want to spend the week with Carter in his hotel room. She couldn't put her finger on why.

Or perhaps she didn't want to admit why. Either way, she wanted to be out, and so she'd decided to shop. Serena had always told her there was nothing a good spending spree at Barney's couldn't fix. It was a safe space to go crazy with credit cards.

'Well, well.'

Jenny froze, hovering over some glass plates she had absolutely no need for in the home section of the store. She took a moment to ensure the voice belonged to who she thought it did. First, Jenny turned her gaze down and then around to the side. She saw black stilettos first, pointed at the toe. Next there were bare legs, a gray-checkered skirt and a black vest. In the person's hand was a coffee to go. There was also a gleaming diamond ring sitting on a specific finger.

Jenny breathed in and stood tall.

'Agnes.'

'Jenny Humphrey,' said the girl, surveying Jenny like a piece of fresh meat across her coffee when she took a sip. 'Long time. Last I heard you were over in London going to school.'

'And last I saw you left me at a bar with some sleazy guys knowing full well what might have happened to me.' Jenny folded her arms.

Agnes drew her lips into a thin line. Jenny had dreamt of this day; of what she'd say to the girl who had betrayed her in the worst of ways, who'd spiked her drink and left her all alone somewhere she didn't know with… and to get… Jenny steeled herself. She pushed her tongue behind her lips, shook the hair from her eyes and straightened her back. She wouldn't break in front of Agnes. She refused to. Agnes didn't deserve that. What she deserved was much, much worse.

Jenny's mind began turning as she looked her former friend over. Engagement ring, expensive purse, and a blow-out… with dry ends, bags under her eyes and looking a little too skinny for her own good. Jenny readied the words on her tongue, quick as a ripping blaze had they come to the surface. For Jenny may have grown up; she may have overcome the demons that forced her away from the upper east side all those years ago.

But she was still Jenny Humphrey. Former Queen of Constance. Sister in all but blood to Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass. Truly, Jenny had arrived. She was strong. She could handle this. Jenny knew who she was. She had finally settled on the words to say.

'I've not been in town long,' Agnes began. 'Let's catch up. It's been a while since Gossip Girl obviously but let me see if I have this right… you whored yourself out to Chuck Bass and swiped your V card with your then-step-brother, before being banished from Manhattan by Blair Waldorf and leaving in disgrace.'

Agnes tapped her chin, a wry smile appearing.

'Am I close?'

Jenny didn't know what to say. To all intents and purposes, Agnes was right and somehow, it didn't sting. She had resolved her issues with Chuck – they considered one another family now and, sure, she'd left in disgrace but she and Blair were the best of friends. Jenny supposed that's what happened when you grew up and put the past behind you. Something Agnes clearly had yet to learn.

'Oh, and whatever happened to you and the Golden Boy? Weren't you trying to sabotage him and Serena van der Woodsen once, too?' Agnes was smirking now.

Jenny considered pouring the coffee in Agnes' hand all over her hair.

'Guess I called it wrong; he really didn't want you in the end, huh?' Agnes finished, beginning to chuckle.

Jenny opened her mouth to speak. She took a step closer. She'd had just about enough of listening to Agnes' damn voice.

A hand touched her lower back. Strong, supportive. Familiar.

Nate Archibald kissed her on the cheek.

Jenny struggled to stifle her surprise.

'Hey sweetheart, I'm sorry. I got caught up trying to decide on a tie.'

Jenny turned her gaze to him. They looked at one another for a moment. Jenny watched Nate's eyebrows arch ever-so-subtly, and she knew right away what he meant. His expression said go with this. It said follow my lead. And Jenny did. As Nate's hand came around from her back and slid along her arm, Jenny met him with her own and they clasped together.

A perfect fit.

Jenny felt a fluttering somewhere inside. She was warm very suddenly.

'Agnes, right?' Nate said then, managing to tear his gaze from Jenny. 'Nate Archibald.'

'We've met,' said Agnes, sounding as though she were trying hard to make sense of things.

Nate pulled Jenny into him. She tried hard to ignore the fact that it felt like the most natural thing in the world to be in his arms.

'Right, of course. You're the one who spiked Jenny's drink that time.'

'Bygones,' Agnes said, her eyes gleaming. 'Seems I've missed a lot.'

'Well you'll forgive us if we don't have time to catch up. My girlfriend and I have somewhere to be.'

Girlfriend. Jenny turned the word over in her mind. It felt almost… like she'd never been anything but.

With that Nate, his hand coming to entwine with Jenny's once more, began back towards the men's section. Jenny went with him, though she couldn't quite remember putting one foot in front of the other, or what he'd said to her on the way there. She was too focused on the fact that her hand felt on fire beneath his touch, and all her thoughts were of how he felt against her. Just Nate, Nate, Nate…

He touched her shoulder.

'Jenny, are you alright?'

She managed to come back to herself just enough to nod and tell him a quick, muffled thank you.

He squeezed her shoulder then, and Jenny looked up into his face. He was smiling.

'Want to get a coffee?'

Despite herself, despite being very much aware that what she was feeling for Nate just then was something more than being thankful for a friend coming to her aid; despite knowing full well that the fluttering in her stomach was more to do with how she felt about Nate than her run-in with Agnes…

'Yeah, sure.'

Nate smiled, and Jenny felt as though the sun itself was shining on her face.

'We should start putting together some ideas for caterers and flowers. Jessa tells me there's a delightful bakery on 74th that could handle the cake; apparently it's a family business and that sponge is just to die for. As well as that, there's the matter of guests. Now I imagine the wedding will be a medium sized affair – certainly less than my wedding to Louis and certainly more than my wedding to Chuck, of course. I fail to see how many friends Humphrey will really have to invite. And the dress –'

'B, I'm pregnant.'

Blair had been in a lightning mood all morning, firstly running around after her son and then engaging in meeting after meeting as potential investors called in to sign or update deals. Jenny had dropped by earlier in the day to hand deliver a press release for her new role as head of creative; Blair was sure she'd have to edit it somewhat, although Jenny had grown into quite the businesswoman since her disastrous teens. Blair trusted her to represent the brand well.

So yes, Blair's morning had been busy and on top of everything else she had to start thinking about Dan and Serena's nuptials. But two words from her best friend were enough to silence her, mouth poised – curving into an 'o' – to speak with words that had died on her tongue. For once, Blair Waldorf Bass was speechless.

The two women stared at one another.

Soon, Blair broke into a smile she hadn't worn since the news of her own pregnancy four years earlier.

'Serena!' Blair cried, throwing her arms out and accepting the woman into them.

They stood entwined for a moment, both smiles in place, before taking a step back and holding hands between themselves. Blair ran her thumb along the backs of Serena's fingers. Her smile faded after feeling the new engagement ring sitting there.

'A pregnancy out of wedlock, S? I know you're a free spirit, but even Serena van der Woodsen can't outrun an unplanned pregnancy scandal.'

Serena tilted her head to the side. 'Well, I'll be Serena Humphrey soon enough and no one will think twice about it.'

Blair smirked politely, then threw an arm around Serena's shoulders and ushered her into the atelier. It was just the two of them; Blair's assistant, Jessa, had run out for coffee to-go the instant Serena had arrived, and the design team were on a fabric excursion until lunch. Blair sat Serena down in the chair opposite her own desk. Blair then took to her chair.

'Nice try, but even when you're a Humphrey, you'll still be a van der Woodsen. So, I propose that we issue a statement from both you and Dan. We'll explain that you and Dan have been engaged for months now, and that the show at Jenny's birthday was merely to break the news to the press. We'll have to call on some of Chuck's contacts in order to put together a wedding in the next few months of course, before you start to show –'

'Well I actually had some thoughts about my own wedding, which I'm sure is a surprise.'

Blair furrowed her brow.

'Please tell me it won't be as shotgun affair in Las Vegas. You're family; Chuck still considers you his sister, as do I. That means any mess that you wind up in usually finds us too. I have to be firm here. Do not shame us with Vegas.'

Serena was laughing.

'You have my word, B. No Vegas wedding. I don't think Rufus would forgive us if he missed the opportunity to give a speech.'

Blair rolled her eyes at the idea of Dan's father with a microphone in hand, wiping his eyes with an aging handkerchief.

'Anyway, Dan and I have been discussing the wedding a lot and we both decided that we want something intimate, with just our families. Do you remember Rufus and my mom's wedding?'

'Vividly,' Blair told her, scowling at the affair. Lily had tied the knot in Brooklyn, of all places, and in a loft at that! Blair had a sinking feeling she knew where this was going.

'Well, we want something like that. Not at the loft, but somewhere special. Somewhere that's home. Dan says he wants Nate to be his best man, and I of course want you with me,' Blair smiled at this, 'But otherwise, we want something quiet. Plenty of times over the years we've let things come between us. This is our day, and we want it to be ours.'

Blair felt the foundlings of an idea beginning to take shape in her mind. She'd have to get Chuck to agree, though she didn't suspect he'd refuse the idea, and if for some unforeseen circumstance under which he might, Blair was perfectly capable of convincing him to see things her way. She was rather a fan of having to convince him, actually. Serena was watching her with a curious look in her eyes; Blair was sure Serena knew her planning face well enough by now.

She did.

'What are you thinking?'

'Leave it with me, mon ami,' Blair rose from her seat and instructed Serena to come with her. She took her friend's hand and led her from the room.

'For now, focus on keeping yourself,' they came to a stop and Blair touched Serena's stomach, 'and my future niece or nephew healthy.' Blair grinned and pulled Serena in for a hug once more.

'I am so happy for you, S. You'll make wonderful parents – even Humphrey!'

Serena's giggles were lost in Blair's hair.

The waitress placed an iced latte in front of Jenny and an Americano in front of Nate. He thanked the girl – she looked to be Jenny's age, perhaps a couple of years younger – with a bright smile and Jenny noticed the girl's cheeks flush. She couldn't blame her. Nate looked especially handsome that day. His hair was somewhat untidy, but in the way that looked like he'd done it on purpose. His eyes were so blue, Jenny noted. It was as though the sky itself was in them.

Nate raised his eyebrows a little and it was only then that Jenny realized she'd been staring. She closed her fingers around her latte and was thankful for the cooling sensation; her palms had begun to feel a little warm.

'So, thanks for…' she began, but she wasn't quite sure how to phrase things.

Certainly he'd come to her rescue, as he had many times in the past, but Jenny did wonder why on earth he'd chosen to play the role of her boyfriend. Stepping in and making Agnes believe they were meeting as friends would have been enough to convince the girl that Nate Archibald was very much still a part of Jenny Humphrey's life. Yet he'd chosen to make it romantic. He'd chosen to kiss her cheek and take her hand. Maybe it meant something. Maybe Jenny was reading into things.

She really shouldn't have been.

'You're welcome,' Nate said, and Jenny relaxed somewhat when he didn't mention that he'd saved her.

It did come up a moment later, however.

'I guess that's just what you and I do,' he said, shifting so that he was leant on the edge of the table, his eyes focused on Jenny's as he spoke again, 'Save each other.'

Jenny felt a flutter in her chest. From where Nate had moved to lean on the table, it would only take her pulling her fingers from her latte and stretching them a little for her to brush his forearm. It had been some time since she'd felt such a desire to touch Nate Archibald… and yet here she was, feeling sixteen again as they sat across from one another in an out of the way café after he'd saved her.

Again.

'You might be right,' Jenny said. She noticed his hand was flexing where it rested on his other forearm. She wondered if he was about to reach out for hers. Her breath caught.

Carter, she thought to herself. You're with Carter.

'So Agnes is back in town. Are you alright about that? After everything that happened, I mean…'

'Her getting me to dance half-naked, burning my entire collection and then dumping me at some bar with some seedy guys in the hope that I'd get –'

'Don't,' he pleaded suddenly. His voice was soft but the look in his eye was hard.

Jenny wondered if perhaps that night had affected him as well as her.

'Nate, it's okay.' Jenny reached out and took his hand, forgetting Carter entirely in that moment.

'You came for me. I'm fine.'

Nate turned their hands so that hers was encased in his own, much bigger one. Jenny took a deep breath as he applied a gentle pressure and squeezed hers. That creeping familiarity of being safe returned. Jenny did what she thought was necessary and pulled her hand from his, accompanying it with a smile.

'Carter's probably waiting for me. We're looking at some apartments later.'

Nate didn't respond for a moment. Jenny remembered the look on his face when she'd told the reporter at the restaurant opening that she and Carter were in love; defeated. He looked caught between anger and disbelief then, before moving off and out of sight for the rest of the evening. Jenny wasn't sure what he was thinking, but she refused to let herself entertain the notion that there was something more at work. She couldn't let herself fall into the trap of thinking Nate Archibald liked her. Every single time she'd done it before, she'd come away with a broken heart.

She could see his jaw clenching as they sat in silence.

'How are things between you two?' Nate asked, though his tone suggested he wanted to talk about anything but.

'Good. He's really busy with the restaurant and I'm still fitting into my new job at Waldorf, so we don't see much of each other right now.'

'And that makes things good?' he questioned. Jenny frowned.

'Like I said, we're apartment hunting.'

Nate was nodding as he sipped his Americano. He set it down a little more loudly than Jenny was expecting, and it aggravated her. How easily he seemed able to rile her up these days.

'So you're moving in together?'

Jenny was about to nod, until she realized that she didn't have a concrete answer. Carter hadn't specifically asked her, and she herself hadn't mentioned it either. They were just sort of… drifting together at that point. They were in a relationship, but where that relationship was headed was unclear. Jenny assumed that since Carter had invited her to look at apartments that he intended on her living in one with him.

'You seem excited,' Nate took the opportunity of her prolonged silence to remark upon it. He was smirking.

'I'm glad my relationship is so funny to you.'

Jenny slid out from her place at their booth and stood up, with every intention of making a dramatic exit. If Nate thought it was alright to laugh at her expense, then he had to think again. She was all set to walk away when his hand closed around her wrist and twirled her back around.

He was much closer than she'd realized.

The proximity in which they stood demanded that she brace herself with her hands on his shoulders to keep from falling after he'd turned her around.

'Nate,' Jenny began, the name catching in a breath and making her seem at his mercy.

His hands touched her waist and his eyes flickered to her lips, and suddenly Jenny could hear her heartbeat in her ears. She was sure he was moving closer, and so was she, right up until her cell rang and shocked them both.

Jenny took a step back. Nate's hands fell away from her waist.

When she retrieved her cell from the bottom of her bag, it was Blair calling.

'There are some aspects of the press release that we just need to finalize. I'll see you at the atelier at three,' she'd said, before beeping off.

As she placed her cell back in her bag, Jenny noticed that somewhere in between answering and putting her cell down, she'd turned her back on Nate. She desperately wished she hadn't; it only made it more difficult now to face him once more. But when she finally did, she was met with surrender.

'Look, I'm sorry. It's not my place to joke about your relationship-'

'You have that right.'

'-so as a gesture, let me take you shopping for something to put in your new place. A bowl… or whatever.'

Jenny laughed. There was grace in his missteps, after all. She checked her watch. There was time for some more retail therapy before having to head to the atelier. Jenny smiled and took the arm Nate had outstretched for her.

Carter had to remind himself to take deep, calming breaths. He was angry. No, he was furious. Nate Archibald had had his run of the city for far too long, thinking for some reason he could do whatever he liked and have whoever he liked.

Not Jenny, Carter thought.

He took a breath in order to compose himself. He picked up his cell from where he'd dropped it on the table and turned it over in his hands, forcing himself to re-read the text messages he'd received in an attempt to accept that it hadn't been a bad dream. Jenny had, in fact, been spotted out in an embrace with Nate Archibald.

Carter read the first text.

You don't know me, but we have something in common.

Carter had replied.

And what's that?

Nate Archibald likes to get in the way of our plans. I have something that could derail his whole future, as well as a few other related parties. You might need to put aside your feelings for this one though.

Who is this?

I'm an old friend of Jenny's. Aren't you supposed to be dating her?

We're together.

That's not what it looks like in these pictures. Let me know if you want what I have on Archibald. It's yours for a price.

Carter had yet to reply. He'd been too preoccupied with staring at the photos of Jenny and Archibald, first holding hands as they walked through the men's section of Barney's, then holding hands as they had coffee and, finally, most painstakingly, the two of them with their arms wrapped around one another and faces just inches apart.

Carter felt a stab of anger that he hadn't felt in some time. It took him back to the year he'd convinced Archibald to bet in a high stakes poker game. Subsequently, they'd both lost thanks to Chuck Bass.

The people Jenny called family, he despised.

Carter mused for a little while.

Perhaps it was time Nate Archibald was put in his place.

He grabbed his cell.

How much?

His phone buzzed a little later.

$10,000. It's worth it, trust me.

Send me the details and I'll make the transfer.

Perfect. And like I said, you may need to put aside your feelings for this one. It's a doozy.

Carter didn't question the person's choice of words, though it dawned on him later that day that he should have. Having transferred the money, he opened the email attachments and was met with photographs of a teenaged-Jenny dancing in her underwear.

Nate Archibald was sitting on the couch in the background in a couple of them.

Carter seethed.

But that wasn't all.

There were more.

And in those few, from the waist-up, Jenny was naked.

It seemed they hadn't shared the entirety of their pasts with one another. But as Carter studied the image, noticed her smile and then trailed his gaze down south to her breasts, he realized something.

The naked pictures were certainly fake. He knew Jenny. Those weren't her breasts.

But the other pictures were real enough to derail any future Nate Archibald might want. After all, how would anyone take him seriously after these pictures of him enjoying an underage show emerged?

Carter understood now. He'd have to put his feelings aside indeed. These pictures would damage more than just Nate Archibald. Jenny, Waldorf Designs, Blair and… to an extent, Chuck Bass.

Carter closed his computer.

He had a decision to make.

As he rode the elevator, Nate knew he was making the right decision.

Sage was waiting for him in her apartment, having buzzed him in a few moments earlier, and while he hoped things would go smoothly he was prepared for the inevitability of a Sage Spence showdown.

Mercifully, she had grown a lot in the past five years.

So when they sat down on her couch, and she looked expectantly at him as he figured out what he was going to tell her, Nate knew deep down that she would likely take it well. She had, after all, shown great respect to Jenny Humphrey years earlier when the two of them had been trying to crack the mystery of who on earth Gossip Girl was. Nate still found it difficult to believe that it was Dan behind it all – and Jenny to an extent. How could she post such horrible things about herself? How could she let the world know about her and Chuck in that way?

Nate's fist curled.

'Nate?'

He cleared his throat and looked apologetically at her.

'Here's the thing, Sage…'

'If you're about to tell me you're leaving me for Jenny Humphrey, then don't bother.' Sage reached across him to the coffee table and retrieved her cell phone. She opened an app and slid along a few stories, before settling on the most popular one of the day. She held the screen up for Nate to read.

Jenny Humphrey caught shopping for fixtures with an Archibald – not a Baizen!

Nate sighed.

'That's not what it looks like.'

'Save it, Nate,' Sage said easily. 'It's not a big deal. We never said we were exclusive; we never actually confirmed we were seeing one another… and I've seen the way you look at her.'

Nate was surprised. He was sure it was written all over his face too, given the way Sage was smirking at him.

'I have to be honest though, Jenny Humphrey's not the blonde I thought you'd leave me for.'

Nate fell back against the couch. He shifted to get comfortable, convinced Sage wasn't about to kick him out. She appeared to be taking things in her stride. If anything, she was acting more like a friend now than when they'd been dating all those years earlier.

'For the record,' Nate said. 'I'm not leaving you for Jenny. She has a boyfriend.'

'Maybe so,' Sage said, shrugging. 'But Carter Baizen is no Nate Archibald.'

Sage moved to the other side of the room and retrieved a bottle of whiskey. She poured them each a glass. Taking his with a nod of gratitude, Nate said,

'Sage Spence, are you suggesting that I steal someone else's girlfriend?'

She tapped his glass with hers.

'I'm just saying it's nice to be fought for.' She chuckled. 'Or over!'

Carter had been drinking for a couple of hours by the time Jenny arrived home that evening. She rattled off excuses about having been with Blair at the atelier and 'she'd tried to call but her cell had died' and how Blair had 'desperately needed her to finish the press release and sign off on some new fabrics that had been brought in'. Carter was no more convinced off it being the truth than he was that his girlfriend didn't have feelings for someone else.

For he'd seen the pictures of Jenny and Nate from earlier in the day, and Carter had looked them over ten, twenty, possibly forty times by the time she got in. Each time, he saw the same look in her eye as Nate held her by the waist and their faces looked ready to meet in a kiss that had been building for years –

'Carter? Did you hear me?'

Jenny kicked her shoes off and joined him on the couch. She took his glass of scotch and finished the remnants, before placing her feet in his lap and leaning back against the cushions.

'I've had a crazy day.'

'I know,' was all Carter said in response.

Jenny frowned. Carter ignored the deer-in-headlights look on her face and chose instead to talk the truth out of her.

'You were with Blair all day? Are things busy?'

Jenny nodded, proceeding to tell him about some new investors she and Blair had managed to get on board with the brand. Carter didn't hear much after Jenny told him she had, in fact, been with Blair. He knew she had a past full to the brim with schemes, a past tainted by the turning cogs of the upper east side and what it turned you into if you stuck around too long… but he assumed she'd outgrown it. Carter assumed Jenny wouldn't lie to him.

'I know you were with Archibald.'

Jenny fell silent at this. She played with her fingers in her lap.

'If you're going to lie to me about it, then I have to assume it's because there's something going on that you don't want me to find out about.'

He turned his head finally to look at her. Jenny was looking back with an earnest expression on her face. She still hadn't spoken.

'Are you sleeping with him?'

This finally prompted her to reply, and she leapt to her feet as she did.

'Of course not!'

Carter didn't take well to the condescending way in which she had replied, so he rose unsteadily to his feet too. Jenny stood her ground, moving closer to him.

'Nate's my friend, and I didn't tell you because I knew you'd react this way. Don't you understand that this is hard for me? He's my friend, and you're my boyfriend –'

'You sure you got those the right way around?'

'-and I know you hate each other, which means I'm caught in the middle.'

'I can fix that,' Carter said, wiping his lips on the back of his forearm.

Jenny folded her arms, waiting.

Carter thought he should regret what he said next, because as much as it was him giving her an ultimatum, it was him putting his insecurities out there. It was him saying 'look, I love you, and I can't lose you'. Jenny didn't seem to register this, so Carter went ahead and spoke.

'I don't want you to see Archibald anymore. I mean it.'

Jenny stared at him. Carter watched her nostrils flare. He saw her jaw clench. He knew he'd hit a nerve and, as she rolled her eyes at him and geared up to reply, Carter made a decision.

'You can't tell me who I can or can't see, and you can sleep on the couch tonight. I'm going to bed. We'll talk about this like adults in the morning.'

Jenny stormed out of the room, leaving Carter feeling frustrated in her wake. She hadn't denied she had feelings for Archibald; in fact, she'd essentially confirmed the opposite by refusing to cut him out of her life. Jenny could survive with one less friend in her circle. But if she wouldn't see sense, perhaps someone else would.

Carter retrieved Jenny's cell from her bag. It was miraculously charged, despite Carter having been told otherwise. He scrolled through her contacts, selected a name and dialed it.

It rang twice before Archibald answered.

'Jenny, hey. I'm glad you called. There's something I want to talk to you about.'

'This is Baizen,' Carter said, though not too loudly. He didn't want Jenny to hear.

'Baizen?' Archibald's tone changed quickly on the other end. 'What the hell are you doing with Jenny's phone? Where is she?'

'She's waiting for me in bed.'

'Man, you've got problems.'

'Actually,' Carter sneered, checking that the bedroom door was closed. 'You're the one with the problem. Or at least you will be.'

'What the hell does that mean?'

Carter sat down on the couch to steady himself. He pulled his computer over and flipped open the screen. His emails were where he'd left them, with one waiting in his drafts to be sent to any and all contacts he had in American media. There were numerous attachments in the email.

Carter knew he would be crossing a line.

He was going to give Archibald one last chance.

'Stay away from my girlfriend.'

Archibald scoffed.

'I'll stay away from Jenny when she tells me to, and not a minute sooner. I get that you're insecure though, seeing as she and I have a history together.'

'One last time,' Carter said, cutting him off. 'Stay away from my girlfriend, or I'll make sure that you do.'

'And what are you going to do about it?'

'You don't want to find out. Don't push me, Archibald.'

Another scoff on the other end of the line.

'Final warning,' Carter said gravely.

His fingers was hovering the mouse over the send button.

There was no scoff this time, only an entitled chuckle from Archibald.

'It's not going to happen, man. Jenny deserves better than you, and if she happens to decide that's me, then so be it. Either way, as long as she's far away from you, I'm happy.'

Carter drew his lips into a thin line.

'If that's the way you want it, Archibald, then on your head be it.'

Carter glanced once more at the bedroom door. Somewhere in the back of his mind was a small voice warning him not to do this; that this would change everything going forward. But Carter knew the satisfaction the fall of Nate Archibald would give him, and he could practically taste it. Archibald deserved this. He needed to learn that he couldn't always get what he wanted.

'You're full of crap, Baizen.'

Archibald hung up.

Carter put Jenny's cell back in her bag.

He waited one moment longer to make the decision.

When he pressed send, he noticed the light in the bedroom switch off.

Jenny, he thought.

But it was too late.

The email was sent.

The pictures were out there.

Nate Archibald would be ruined…

…and so would Jenny Humphrey.

So Jenny's prince isn't quite as charming as he was made out to be... dear me, how will he find his way out of this one? How will this affect Nate's future? How is Jenny going to cope with this betrayal? How will Carter combat the inevitable storm that is a scorned Blair Waldorf Bass? Stay tuned to find out! As always, comments are love x