A/N sorry for the wait and for the length of this chapter I kind of started and couldn't stop lol : ) hope you like it

Before he could say anything Serena had downed another shot. "You know you were right" she said remembering their phone call this morning "I only married him because I was afraid of being alone, and here I am sitting at a bar drinking alone, how depressing is that"

"Serena you are never alone" he said putting a hand on her shoulder "not as long as I'm here"

She buried her face in her hands before muttering "I guess everyone was about me". Nate knitted his eyebrows together, not sure what she meant. "That I would end up just like my mother, married for a while and then divorced". She buried her face further into her hands to hide her tears. "I married my stalker Nate! And deluded myself into believing we would have a fairy tale ending! How do I get on with my life knowing I could be so stupid?" she lifted her face out of her hands waiting for an answer.

He remembered the old Serena, her eyes were always happy no matter how bad the situation, Her smile could light up a room, her head was always held up high no matter how humiliated she was, something about her just sparkled. He looked at her now and all of that was gone, her eyes were dull and red, her chin was quivering and she was slouched in her chair avoiding eye contact. The worst part was the Serena Van Der Wodsen sparkle had faded. Nobody gets away with doing that to her, especially not a Humphry.

Without a word he hopped out of his chair and held his hand out to help her of the bar stool. "Come on" he said simply.

Serena looked at him a little confused "where are we going and is there alcohol".

Nate chuckled and gave her a mysterious smile "I'm going to give you a tour of the life of the most beautiful amazing alive person I have ever met"

Serena couldn't help but giggle at her best friend, "Do I know her" she whispered leaning forward on her stool.

"You might" He said lifting her of the stool and carrying her out the door. "She's got beautiful blonde hair, amazing legs she can brighten up a room in seconds and not even a god could compete with her beauty"

"Who is it" Serena smiled shyly

"Don't you know Serena?" he said kissing her on the forehead, "It's you"

When Serena stepped out of the taxi she half expected to see Dan holding a gorgeous vase of flowers laughing and telling her it was just a joke he still loved her and there was no chance he would do that to her. Instead she was met by the sharp winter's air and complete darkness. It took a while for her eyes to adjust and when they did she frowned. It's not that she didn't love central park, she did, but not when it was freezing cold on the night she was supposed to spend with her husband.

She looked up at Nate hopping he was joking, but when she saw his face he looked completely serious. "Nate, as much as I love standing in the pitch dark in the middle of winter wearing a mini skirt, why am I here instead of at a bar drowning my sorrows" she teased nudging his arm.

"Ah" he said in the same mysterious grin as before "but I already told you, I' giving you a tour of your life".

"What is that" she asked while Nate buttoned his jacket around her body and held her hand "I already lived my life I'm pretty sure I don't need a tour of it"

Serena looked up at him and for the first time she couldn't place his expression. For years she could read him like a book but now he was too complicated to read. His face was a mixture of sorrow anger and longing, but he couldn't be feeling all of those things at once could he? After all this was Nate, he had the emotional range of a tea spoon. He interrupted her thoughts when he eventually answered her question. "Well, you remember most of your life" he began "but you seem to have forgotten about the people that care". She stared at him for a moment, his face was clear and easy to read again, but for some reason he just looked different. She hadn't seen him this way since before her wedding. She was lost in his eyes when he began to guide her through the park.

They walked in silence through the park, neither of them wanting to say something they would regret. He saw the way she was looking at him earlier, but he knew better than to think too much of it, this was Serena Van Der Woodsen after all. She was heartbroken, drunk and questioning all her life decisions he knew her well enough to know she would latch herself onto the first guy that showed interest. He wanted to believe that his feelings for her were mutual, but deep down he thought she loved him as a friend and nothing more.

As they walked through the cold she kept her head firmly buried in Nate's chest to keep warm. They'd been walking for over half an hour and she was sure he was lost even if he won't admit it. She was half asleep when he stopped in front of what she thought was a pile of scrap metal, but as they got closer she realised it was not junk but an old worn down play park.

The park was rusty and was seriously in need of a paint job. But if you look past that you can tell it was once beautiful. Serena looked at the slides and swings, most of the paint had peeled off but small fragments of a beautiful soft blue remained clinging on to the rusted metal. She almost broke down into tears , she knew it was dumb her husband was cheating on her, she was probably getting a divorce and this is what she was crying about, a couple of old children toys.

It took her a while before she noticed it, but as soon as she did she couldn't look away. Right in the middle there was an old roundabout that looked like if you poked it would crumble but somehow it was still the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"I was hoping you would see that" he said leaning over her shoulder "do you remember?"

"Yes" she breathed, and for the first time that night a genuine smile spread across her face.

He knew he shouldn't stare too long or his older cousin would make fun of him, but he couldn't help it. He was only five years old and he wasn't sure what love meant but he knew he loved her. She was spectacular, her golden hair was flowing behind her as she ran across the playground looking under slides as she went. She looked like she had lost something important and he was going to help her find it.

Serena huffed as she flopped onto the roundabout. This was the worst game of hide and seek ever. At first she was worried when her dad hadn't come home for days, but her nanny had explained he was only playing hide and seek and he would come out as soon as he wasn't mad at mommy anymore. She'd looked everywhere for him, under his bed, behind curtains she even looked in that club with all the naked woman in it, she knew he loved it there, but after weeks of searching he was still nowhere to be seen. Her mommy told her to give up and he wasn't coming back, but her nanny told her not to believe anything mommy said when she comes home smelling funny, so she always ignored what she said about daddy. But every second Daddy wasn't there a little nagging voice in her head told her mommy was telling the truth. It felt like the world was spinning around her and she couldn't do anything about it, she was actually getting dizzy. She was about to get off the roundabout when she realised it didn't just feel like the world was spinning it actually was, someone was pushing the roundabout. She began to scream for help but her screams were concealed by the yelling of all the other children having fun, she didn't know who was pushing her but she kept catching flashes of a boy with an evil smirk and wearing a funny scarf.

He couldn't believe it when he found it. He guessed it would be difficult to find because the blonde girl was searching for ages, but he had barely been searching for five minutes when he saw the most beautiful locket his eyes ad ever set sight on. It had a long delicate silver chain witch led to an oval shaped locket covered in small blue crystals. Sure he had found it around someone else's neck but something this pretty could only belong to the blonde girl.

He was almost back at the play park when the brunet girl he had snatched the locket from finally caught up. "HEY!" she yelled jumping in front of him so he couldn't move. "GIVE IT BACK!" she said still yelling even though she was right in front of him.

"No" he said as calmly as he could "you stole it first". The brunet just looked at him like he was crazy before snatching the locket from him. "GIVE IT" he squealed swatting at the locket in a desperate attempt to get it back. The brunet held it in the air out of his reach and opened it to reveal a picture of her and who he assumed was her parents. He stared at it in disbelief for a moment, he had just stolen a locket… from a GIRL! His mom was going to kill him. "Oh" was the only sound he could muster "I'm sorry" he added quickly. There was another long pause before the brunet piped up.

"I'M TELLING MY MOM!" she said beginning to turn to face the opposite direction. She didn't even get the chance to take one step forward before he began to beg.

"Please, please, please don't my mom will kill me" he said getting on his knees. "I thought it was a girls" .the girl looked down at him her expression changing from anger to amusement.

"What's her name?" she said sounding amused

"Um… well… I don't know" he admitted sheepishly

"What's she like?" she asked already knowing the answer

"… Well… I um… I don't know" he said and the brunet burst out laughing

"Have you ever actually spoken to her" she said clearly enjoying this.

"No" he said feeling slightly ashamed "but I was going to give that to her because I thought it was hers and then she would fall madly in love with me and when I grow up I will marry her" he blurted out all at once before he could stop himself and the girl just laughed even harder and rolled her eyes

"Pathetic" she said trying to sound serious but she couldn't stop the giggles. She held out her hand, with perfectly manicured fingers which he thought was odd for someone her age, "Blair" she said simply.

Nate just stared at her and said "What about Blair?"

"Oh my god you need me" she muttered to herself "I mean my name is Blair" she said again and extended her arm further.

"Oh" Nate said feeling stupid. "Nate" he said shaking her hand

"Well Nate" she said while they both walked towards the play park "tell me about this girl"

"Well" he said smiling at the thought of her "she has blonde hair, and she's so pretty, she's even prettier than Cinderella". Nate continued to tell Blair all about the pretty blonde girl until they got to the park. Blair looked around the park for a while and frowned, she couldn't see a blonde anywhere. She looked up at Nate who was equally confused.

"Which one is she?" Blair asked hoping she hadn't walked half way across central park and wrecked her new shoes in the process for nothing.

"She's not he-"he began to say until his eyes latched onto something in the distance. Blair followed his eye line and when she saw it her eyes almost popped out of her head. She saw the blonde girl but she wasn't as cheerful as Nate had described, that was probably because an evil looking child was pushing her on the roundabout against her will. "COME ON!" Nate yelled running to the blondes defence and Blair couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.

Serena couldn't believe this first her dad left and now she was going to be trapped spinning in circles forever! She was about to admit defeat when all of a sudden the spinning stopped. She was about to yell at the evil looking boy when she saw a blonde boy had already beet her to it. The blonde boy had tackled the other to the ground and was staring up at her dreamily, she was about to thank him when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She looked around to see a brunet girl, she didn't know why but Serena couldn't help but trust this girl so she ran into her arms and let out a sob.

"It's okay" Blair whispered soothingly to the blonde and patted her back, she knew she needed to protect her. The two were lost in each other when they were interrupted by Nates yell.

"What the hell man!" he yelled pulling the evil looking boy up by his collar. "Why would you think that's okay!?"

The boy began to pat the mug of his cloths and straighten his scarf "because" he said an evil smirk growing across his face "I'm Chuck Bass"

"And I'm Nate Archerbald but you don't find me bullying helpless beautiful….." he trailed off because he looked at the blonde and got distracted by her long golden hair, her glowing eyes her-

"Oh my god" Blair interrupted, irritated by Nates longing, gently pushing Serena aside she walking furiously towards Chuck "look Basshole" she started "don't even think about coming near my friend again"

"I like your determination" he said looking her up and down "but you call her a friend and you don't even know her name"

"Serena" a small voice piped up behind them "my name is Serena"

The brunet looked at her and gave her the first genuine smile she had given in a long time "I'm Blair"

Serena got up from where she was sitting, no longer crying and took the blonde boys and Blair's hand

"We can be like the three musketeers" Blair said sounding like it was her lifelong dream

Serena smirked at Chuck "I'm telling my mom" she stated and walked away hand in hand with her new friends (or as Blair said the three musketeers)

"Good luck with that" Chuck called after them "she's dead". The three children stood frozen to the spot, none of them wanting to make the first move. Before Nate or Blair could stop her Serena broke free of her grip and wrapped her arms tightly around Chuck pulling him into a tight hug.

"If it makes you feel any better" she muttered into his neck "my daddy left us". He managed to pull free from her grip and looked at her apologetically

"I'm sorry for the roundabout" he said looking at the ground

"Its fine" Serena smiled.

"Wait" Blair's voice called out from behind "is that it? No scheming, we just forgive him for what he did to you"

"Yes" Serena said standing up a little taller as she smiled at the others. "He can be our friend to"

Blair looked up at Nate waiting for him to reason with her new best friend, but instead he was still staring at her dreamily. Honestly she thought to herself this is what you get if you team up with a love sick kid. "No" she stated staring at Serena with disbelief "Serena as your new best friend, I think its best that you don't associate yourself with his kind" she said giving Chuck her famous death glare.

"Oh come on Blair, he can't be that bad" Nate said. He didn't really care if "Chuck Bass" would join the group, but he really wanted to impress Serena and helping an orphan get friends seemed like the best way to do that (plus the kid looked fun to be around)

"Please, please, please" Serena begged "I promise I'll look after him, I'll play with him, I'll feed him, and I'll even walk-"

"I am not a dog" Chuck interrupted sounding half irritated and half amused

Blair looked between the three other children and sighed "I guess we could be like the non-judging breakfast club instead of the three musketeers" she said with great exasperation.

Serena squealed and pulled the "non-judging breakfast club" into a group hug "this is going to be so much fun" she said clapping her hands together excitedly "I can show you all my little brother Eric, he is soooo cute"

"Oh and I can show you all my mom's fashion company" Blair adds and Serena Squeals again

"How come I'm stuck with New York's most girly girls… ever?" Chuck teases and Blair nudges him playfully.

"Watch it" she teases "we can always chuck you out and be the three musketeers again"

"S'okay man" Nate said patting Chuck on the back "We can always escape them on my yacht". He never wanted to escape Serena but he really wanted to brag about his yacht.

"Wait" Serena screamed, eyes widening so much he was terrified they would pop out of her head "you have a yacht!?" Nate grinned glad that bragging about his yacht was paying off. He nodded and Serena couldn't control her excitement any longer.

"Oh my god we are going to have soooo much fun, we can have parties on it, and swim, and steer it and we can all get-" she started before she was waved off by Blair who looked like she was going to faint.

"You guys are all elite… right?" she whispered terrified that she might have just bonded with a bunch of commoners. "Because my mom told me this play park was strictly for the upper class".

"I live in a pent house in the UES" Serena said offended that her new best friend thought she was common

"I have a town house" Nate shrugged. They all turned to Chuck who still hadn't answered Blair's question.

"Oh please… I'm Chuck Bass" he said as another evil smirk grew across his face "somebody of my physique isn't from Brooklyn" he spat out in disgust. Blair sighed in relief and smiled at her very first friends she didn't plan on using as minions.

They spent the rest of the afternoon playing games and debating whose parents were worse. After almost three hours together Serena's nanny told her it was time to leave. She said her goodbyes and exchanged numbers with them before she walked out of the park smiling.

All of a sudden she didn't care that her dad walked out of her life because three more people had walked into it.

Serena swallowed hard "Nate I… I…" I chose the wrong man she wanted to say she wanted to tell him she's always loved him even when she was with Dan. But like always she gets scared that he'll reject her or she ruins him like she ruins every other guy she's with. "I'm sorry" she eventually said because it's true, she's sorry that she chose Dan Humphry over the greatest man she ever knew.

He didn't hesitate before he wrapped his arms tightly around her and whispered in her ear "Hey, Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for". He pulled away from her slightly but his arms were still wrapped firmly around her. "It's Dan that should be sorry, do you want me to beat him up for you?" he asked half hoping she would say yes.

Serena giggled at her friend, glad that he was there for her. "You couldn't beat him up if you tried" she teased.

Nate's jaw dropped open and he put his hands to his chest in mock offence. "You cut me deep S" he joked "I've done it before" he said smiling at the memory of punching him in the face when they all found out he was gossip girl.

"Good times" Serena laughs. "If you ever feel like doing that again, be my guest"

Nate smiles grimly "I might take you up on that offer".

Serena looks up at Nate and for the first time since she broke up with him, she allows her eyes to linger. She lets herself notice all the things she used to try hard to ignore, like how his eyes lit up when he looked at her, how he was so tall and his perfectly sculpted body. This was is, she was going to take a chance, before she could talk herself out if it she leaned in and pressed her lips against his, and for a while he kissed her back, she wished that is could last forever but like everything else it came to a close.

He pulled away slowly, wearing a small smile "You have no idea how much I want you" he said still smiling before he forced himself to frown "But not like this, Serena you just got dumped and your drunk"

She felt the tears forming in her eyes before she covered them with her famous Serena Van Der Woodsen smile. "Your probably right Natie" she said trying hard to keep the smile on her face "Seeing as you are such a gentleman" she began as she linked arms with him "will you walk me home?"

"Always"

A/N hey guys sorry there wasn't much NS in that chapter but I couldn't resist putting some NJBC in there ; ) but don't worry next chapter they will have more time together. I hope you liked it please review constructive criticism welcome.