A/N: hey guys! Just in case you get confused this chapter begins a few minutes before Nate and Serena's phone call last chapter. Hope you like it and Please review

Nate had never been great at buying gifts. Once when he was seven years old he decided to buy his father a lightsabre for Christmas, he was so excited to see his face when he unwrapped the gift, he remembered the shocked expression on his father's face when he ripped open the wrapping paper to find a dildo. After that experience Nate swore he would only buy people chocolates and flowers.

But Serena was a special exception, he loved to see her face when she opened a present, how face would light up, how her eyes would sparkle, how she smiled but most of all he just loved making her happy.

He would always put extra care into buying her a gift especially on days like today. He didn't know the whole story but from what Blair told him it sounded like Dan was being his usual arrogant self and Serena was trying desperately to hold on to their relationship in typical upper east side fashion, she was hosting a party in his honour.

Nate sighed when he saw how busy the shopping centre was, trust Serena to throw a party on black Friday, he pushed through the crowd hoping to get to get to Serena's favourite shop, Dior, before everything was gone.

He was barely in the shop for 2 seconds before a dark haired shop attendant pounced at him, "can I help you" she squealed

He looked at her startled by her sudden appearance, it took him a moment before he got his bearings together and replied "err… no I'm ok" he said. Nate began to walk away and browse the shelf's before she jumped up in front of him again.

"No I insist" she said in what he thought was supposed to be a sweet voice but came out in more of a desperate squeak. "It's my job"

He knew it was stupid but he felt like it was an impersonal gift if he didn't look for it himself but it wasn't as if he had a choice, this woman clearly wasn't giving up and more bargain hunters were pouring into the shop by the second. "Sure" he sighed, He already knew what he was looking for, and maybe she could help him find it. "I'm looking for a perfume called poison"

"Sorry we're all out" the woman said apologetically "I'm sure your girlfriend will be disappointed" she added searching his face. For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling this woman was mentally undressing him.

"Err yeah she will" he lied, he was scared if he corrected this woman he would be here all day while she 'accidently' kept bringing the wrong perfume. "Is Miss Dior still in stock?" he asked. He remembered how she would love that perfume as well.

"YES" the shop assistant snarled, clearly upset that he 'had a girlfriend' "do you want me to go get it"

"That would be nice" he said brightly, imagining Serena's face when she saw it he could picture her face lighting up and how happy she would be to know that no matter how much of an ass Dan was she always had him. He was so lost in his thought's he almost didn't notice the shop attendant storm of into the back room.

She returned a few minutes later shoving the perfume into his hands so hard he was sure she was trying to break the bottle. "$25.44" she said bluntly holding out her hand waiting for the money

"Shouldn't I pay at the checkout?" he asked a little confused why she was being so rude. The woman just glared at him and gestured for him to give her the money impatiently. He looked around the shop half expecting to see the manager apologising to him for their employee's rudeness. He sighed and gently placed the moony onto the girl's palm. "Thanks for helping" he dryly before walking away.

He was about to walk out the store when his phone began to ring. A smile crept onto his face when he saw the caller ID. "Hey Serena" he said, he was about to tell her about the sop attendant who was clearly flirting with him before he heard her voice.

"Hi Natie" she mumbled glumly, suddenly he felt the urge to run to her apartment and hug her, make her feel better. He was about to ask her what was wrong before she answered the question for him. "I think he's cheating on me" she said sounding like she was going to cry. He didn't know what to say. He would be lying if he said he wouldn't be a little happy if they broke up, but he knew that Serena loved Dan and it didn't matter what his feelings were for her she would never return them. He knew he shouldn't try to convince her Dan was cheating, but he didn't want to convince her that he wasn't either. "Nate… are you there"

"Yeah" he said breathlessly "are you sure" he asked trying hard not to sound happy.

"No" she sighed "I just found some under ware that wasn't mine and I just…" she trailed of

There was a long silence over the phone while Nate tried to think of something to cheer her up. "Didn't Blair stay at yours last week" Nate questioned.

"Yeah but you know Blair, she wouldn't forget anything" she moaned "and besides you're just trying to make me feel better". Nate chuckled.

"Serena I have no reason to defend him" he began "and as much as I would love for you two to break up I know he isn't that bad" he said hoping that was enough to cheer her up.

There was a long pause before Serena piped up "yeah I guess you're right" and Nate sighed with relief. Glad that his friend was happy, but if he ever found out Dan was cheating there would be trouble. There was a pause until Serena began to talk about the night she planned for Dan she babbled about how he would love it but Nate couldn't hear her. He just wondered what life would have been like if she had married him instead of Dan, he would be the one planning these romantic nights for her, they could have food fights in the kitchen and go to parties together. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't notice the words coming out of his mouth until it was too late.

"Are you sure this is going to work… maybe you should just give up" he blurted. As soon as the words were out he wished he could take them back. He could tell she would be hurt.

"What is that supposed to mean" Serena snapped. He paused for a moment trying to think of something to say that wouldn't hurt her more than she already was.

"Serena you can't just force yourself to love someone, that's not how it works" he could hear her breathing heavily over the phone and could tell she was thinking hard about something so he gave her a moment before adding "Look Serena we've been friends for years and I can't stand to see you waste your life".

"Who says I'm wasting my life" she said anger rising in her voice. "I love Dan, always have always will"

Nate took a deep breath reminding himself to stay calm "Are you trying to convince me or yourself". He was about to say more but thought better of it.

"Nate if you want to say something say it!" she said clearly irritated at his lack of words. He wanted to confessing his feelings for her and beg her to come back to him he was willing to do anything for her but thought better of it. He had managed to conceal his feelings for almost a decade, and there was no way he was going to ruin that. But she was expecting him to say something and if he can't tell her about his feelings for her he might as well tell her about his feelings about her and Dan.

"You don't love him you stopped loving him the second you left high school he's arrogant, rude and you seem to have conveniently forgot he was gossip girl, he spread rumours about you and ruined our lives and I don't get it, you married him anyway because you are desperate for someone to love you". He expected to feel better after he told her but all he could feel was guilt. "… Serena I'm sorry, I didn't mean that"

"Yes… you did" she said barely holding back tears "maybe you shouldn't come tonight"

"Ser-" Nate started but it was too late she had already hung up. He stood frozen in the middle of the shopping centre paralysed by guilt, all she wanted was somebody to talk to and he made it all about his petty hatred towards Dan. He would have probably stood there forever if it wasn't for the shopper shoving him over. He broke out of his trance and ran to catch a cab.

The drive to Serena's pent house seemed shorter than usual. Probably because he was so nervous she would be mad at him. He made his way to her penthouse thinking of how he could apologise when he heard arguing upstairs.

"ALL I DO IS GIVE, GIVE, GIVE AND THIS- THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME… BY SLEEPING WITH SOMEBODY ELSE IN OUR BED!" he heard Serena scream.

Nate stood there frozen on the spot for the third tome today. He always thought when the day came and they broke up he would be happy, but he just felt so sorry for Serena and wanted to hold her and whisper conferring things in her ear. For a while he conceders' going up there to defend Serena, but deep down he knew it would make it worse for her. After a lot of thinking he decided to wait at the bottom of the stairs for her.

He listened to their fight wincing at the pain he could hear in Serena's voice as she tried to stay strong. He was proud of her though, proud that she didn't crumble at Dan's feet. When the yelling was done he stood up straight ready to help Serena. He looked up to see her staring down at her and cringed at how terrified she looked. He had a whole speech planned in his head but before he got the chance to say anything she had already slipped past him and in the elevator.

The door pinged shut and the last thing he saw was Serena looking completely broken. He ran to the elevator and pushed the button hoping it would come straight up but it was taking far too long. The plan was to just wait for it to come up but he thought of something better. He stomped up the stairs expecting to see Dan looking guilty or at least upset his marriage was over but instead found him completely naked making out with his mistress. He would have been shocked but this was Dan Humphry he was just an ass. "HEY DAN" he called and Dan looked over at him covering up his penis before Nate punched him in the nose. "That was from all of us" he repeated the line he said to him four years ago "you're not welcome here anymore" he said turning back down the stairs and hopping into the elevator.

The elevator doors opened and Serena stormed out she didn't know where she was going and she didn't care. She needed to get out of there be far away from Dan far away from everything. She was about to walk out the door when somebody called her name.

"Serena, wait" he called

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO-"she yelled spinning on her heal to face him when she saw it was Nate, not Dan. "Sorry I thought you were him" she murmured. Nate looked at her he wasn't sure what to do or say. He practically bolted towards her and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm so sorry S" he said into her neck. "You deserve so much more". She knew she should be sad about Dan but all that she could think was his arms were around her and his face was buried in her neck. Slowly she pushed him away because she couldn't deal with this right now. She had to work through the hurt she was feeling and not just distract herself with another guy, but he wasn't just another guy he was… Nate.

"I think I should be alone right now" she said more to herself than to him.

"Serena" he pleaded "please you've got to let me help you, I won't let you go through this alone". She looked down at her arm, at the small scar she had had for as long as she could remember. For some reason it had always made her want to trust people. She knew if she really wanted to get over Dan she had to find herself, but what the hell it wasn't like the night could get any worse.

"Get me drunk" she said

"Absolutely" Nate replied