She stretched her arm out to find Nate's warmth but instead all she found was empty sheets. She knows she shouldn't be disappointed, she is technically still married after all but she can't help it.
She tried to push herself out of bed but the pounding in her head pushed her right back down again. She tried to push herself up again when she felt somebody gently push her down again. "Hey, just stay down until you feel better" Nate said placing a glass of water with paracetamol on the table "how hungover are you?" he asked supressing a laugh.
"M'not hungover" she said pulling the blankets over her head to protect herself from the sunlight "just got wine flue" she heard him laugh normally she would think of a comeback but today she was way to hungover so she threw a pillow at him "s'not funny Archerbald"
"Sorry" he said even though he didn't mean it "I'll be downstairs making breakfast if you need me".
She sat up on the bed and looked around the empty room, and for the first time she realised she hated it. She hated the murky grey colour Dan had painted the walls, she hated the square looking furniture Dan chose, she hated all the artsy paintings Dan had hung on all the walls but most of all she hated herself for letting Dan have so much control, not just in the apartment but her life.
With determination she pushed herself of the bed, ignoring the throbbing in her head, and walked to the wardrobe. She didn't care that Dan wasn't here anymore she was going to get dressed, look good, go have breakfast and get on with her life.
She was done letting him control her, for the past four years she had acted like the perfect trophy wife, planning parties, cleaning the house she even did his laundry and that seriously said something because his socks smelt like something had died in them. But for now on she was going to stop acting like a trophy wife and just be herself.
She furiously threw all her old loose knee length housewife dresses across the room and pulled out a dress she hadn't wore since she was twenty two. It was a simple tight white dress that barely stretched past ass, it might be a little revealing but it's who she is and she's not changing that for anyone ever again. She slipped it on and tore down the ponytail Dan liked her hair in and let it fall in loose waves down her back, she applied her makeup the way she liked it and studied herself in the mirror and smiled, She hadn't looked or felt this confident in a long time, and she loved it.
She walked down the stairs like she was wearing an invisible crown, she wasn't insecure about how short her dress was or how her hair looked, because Dan wasn't here to put her down anymore by telling her she looks like a common hooker and her hair looks like it hasn't been combed in days. She has Nate told her she looks 'hot' and her hair looks amazing.
She bounced onto a stool and watched as Nate tried to figure out how to work an oven, he was apparently trying to turn it on by voice command because he kept staring at it repeating the word 'on'. "Do you want some help?" she finally asks putting the poor guy out of his misery.
He jumps when he hears her voice and spills the flour all over the kitchen floor, they both react immediately and kneel down to try sweeping it up with their hands. "No its okay I just-" he starts to protest but when he looks up at Serena he is completely speechless, her golden hair is in loose waves down her back, she has got barely any makeup on and her dress, well he can't think of any words to describe how good that dress makes her look. She looks like a Greek goddess.
"What?" she asks suddenly beginning to feel very self-conscious "is it the dress? Is it too much?"
"No, no" he says unable to tare his eyes away from her "you look beautiful"
She ducks her head down to hide the blush that was forming on her cheeks "thankyou" she smiles shyly before she shakes herself awake, 'no you cannot have feelings for Nate' she thinks to herself. "Right" she says jumping up from where she was kneeling to stop herself from doing something she would regret "so how far have you gotten on operation breakfast" she says thinking she knows the answer judging by the mess around her.
"Well…" he said avoiding eye contact and shuffling on his feet "so far nothing"
Serena can't help but chuckle at how unbelievably adorable he looks "okay so what are we making" she asks trying to remember how to turn on the oven
"We?" Nate asks jokingly "the last time you cooked I distinctly remember your mother having to buy a new apartment due to fire damage"
"Hey!" she defended throwing her hands in the air "There was something wrong with that microwave"
"Sure it was the microwave" he said laughing and she playfully punches him on the arm laughing along with him.
"So what are we making?" she asks again looking at the pile of unused ingredients on the counter. He had pulled some usual ingredients like flour, eggs, and milk and she guest they were making pancakes but then the other foods caught her eye vinegar, baked beans and for the life of her she couldn't think of a single breakfast that had Twizzlers in it.
"Pancakes" he responded with a shrug as if these were usual ingredients. She was about to tell him that pancakes weren't supposed to have pickles in them but then again who was she to tell him how to cook, she burnt her mother's apartment down trying to cook a microwave meal.
"So how do we make pancakes?"
"Just put all the ingredients in the bowl and mix, I've already measured them out" he said pulling a bowl from the shelf. Serena looked doubtfully at the ingredients on the counter.
"Really, you want to put a whole jar of pickles in?" she said hopping he was joking
"Of course not, Serena" he finally said and she let out a sigh of relief, she was getting a divorce and her husband was cheating on her the last thing she needed was to be poisoned. Her relief was short lived though "We have to mash them up first" he finished.
"Um Natie I hate to break it to you but this recipe looks disgusting"
"It'll all work out in the end" Serena looked at him doubtfully for a moment before rolling her eyes and mixing all the ingredients, cringing slightly at the mushy green mixture she had created.
After he had finished mashing up the jar of pickles she added them to the bizarre blend of ½ cup of vinegar 1 tin of beaked beans 4 Twizzlers 6 eggs 1 spoon of milk and 1 tea spoon of flour.
She was not looking forward to eating them when she remembered the biggest problem they were facing. The oven. The last time she turned one on she was four and it was only because she thought the light was pretty. And judging by Nate's attempt to turn it on by voice command she knew this was going to take a while.
After twenty minutes of Nate trying to turn it on by singing 'good morning' (badly) Serena had a brainstorm. "Hey that's a gas oven right?" she said excitedly because she thinks she's finally cracked it.
"Um… yeah I guess" he said while looking it up and down for a sign
"Be right back" she chirped running up the stairs. A few minutes later Nate watched a surprisingly strong Serena carry a tank of gas own the stairs.
"What are you doing" he asks a little confused, he walks forward to help her carry the tank down to the kitchen before she hurt herself.
"Well, if it's a gas oven maybe it won't turn on because it's run out of gas" she huffs as they put down the tank.
"Oh okay" he says feeling stupid for not thinking of this before "So where's the slot the gas goes into?"
"I think we just pour it on top" She said pouring some gasoline on top of the oven "Do you have a match" she asks him and he hands her a box of them
"How did we not think of this before" but his question is answered as soon as the match hits the gas flames erupt everywhere. They both stood there dumbstruck for a few milliseconds before the realisation finally kicked in.
"FIRE FIRE FIRE! OH MY GOD A FIRE" Serena yelled running in circles, she couldn't believe this was happening again, this was the last time she was ever going to cook. She's completely panicking when something even hotter than fire distracts her.
Nate had ripped his shirt off and was beating the fire with it and she couldn't help but stare at his perfect abs. She knew it was the completely wrong time to check out her best friend but dam he was hot.
When the fire was out Nate stared at the oven panting from the hard work. He looked at Serena to make sure she was okay but when he saw her she was staring at him in awe. A cocky smile grew across his face and he wiggled his eyebrows "see something you like Van Der Woodsen"
His voice shakes her awake from her fantasy and she tries her best to make her face look nonchalant "You wish Archerbald" a cock grin finding its way onto her face as well "We both know you couldn't handle me"
"Oh really?" he says taking a step closer "I think you're the one that couldn't handle me"
"Please" she said rolling her eyes "The only thing hotter than you is me"
"So you agree I am hot?" He said teasingly knowing that it would make her blush, and right enough she looked down covering her face with her hair but he could still see the edge of her ears going red
"No- well yes- but- oh you know what I mean" she stutters getting more and more flustered by the second.
"I know" he said putting his hand on her shoulder reassuringly "It's okay" He repeats when he sees she's still nervous "If it helps I think you're hot to"
She looks up at him and their eyes lock, It's different from when her eyed locked with Dan, when she looked into Nates Eyes she didn't see regret or hatred she just saw love, pure unconditional love. She has a sudden urge to kiss him again, like last night but she knew deep down if she wasn't good enough for Dan she defiantly wasn't good enough for Nate.
It takes all the strength she has, but she clears her throat and takes a step away from him, she winces when she sees the pain flash across his face. "So…" she begins pretending not to see the pain on his face "Pancakes… how're we going to cook them without an oven"
He chuckled a little and she was glad she hadn't completely broken him "I don't think that's possible Serena"
"Oh I beg to differ" She smirked that cocky grin finding its way onto her face again.
He couldn't help the goofy grin that followed because he loved how mischievous she was "what are you planning Van Der Woodsen"
She just gave him a goofy grin and skipped up the stairs "You'll see" she called over her shoulder.
For the second time that day she walked down the stairs carrying something completely unexpected. "Why the hell do you own a blow torch?" he asks a little scared to hear the answer , and then his mind wanders to Serena using a blow torch and he can't help but be a little turned on.
She shrugged "It was Dan's, he said he needed it to fix the heating or something like that".
"Okay but how are we supposed to cook pancakes with a blow torch?" he was pretty sure he knew the answer and all he could do was pray that he was wrong but the sly grin Serena was wearing confirmed his greatest fears.
"You're going to hold the pan out and I'm going to blow torch the bottom of it silly" She poured some of the mixture into the pan and handed it to him
"Why don't you hold the pan and I'll torch it" he asks
"Are you saying a woman can't blow torch things?" she says knowing that as soon as she brought feminism into this he would pipe don and let her have some fun with the blow torch.
Apparently she knew him well because he wordlessly took the pan and held it as far away from him as he could. He flinched when he saw her coming closer with the torch because letting anyone burn something inches away from your hand was a little scary, letting Serena Van Der Woodsen, the girl who burnt down her house using a microwave, do it was absolutely terrifying.
He felt her delicate hand hold onto his shoulder and she whispered into his ear "trust me". And that's all it took for his body to relax, because no matter how irresponsible or clumsy she was he would always trust her.
"Always" he whispers back.
After forty five minutes of blowtorching hell, they have a giant batch of delicious smelling and looking pancakes. "I hate to admit it Archerbald" she says plonking herself on his lap because the modern chairs Dan chose were so uncomfortable "But these smell amazing"
"Well let's just hope they taste as good as they look".
They didn't.
There are no words to describe how disgusting that batch of pancakes tasted, Serena spat her mouth fool across the room and Nate was scraping his tongue with his fingernails.
"Oh my god that was disgusting" she giggled burying her face into his chest, she was laughing so hard she had to wrap her arms around Nate so she didn't fall off of him. He could feel her falling off so he held her lower back to stop it.
"I know" he laughed "I don't think we should cook again for a while"
"Ever" she corrected still laughing into his chest. They stayed like that for a while, just breathing each other in and laughing
"Well we hate to interrupt this… intimate moment" they both look up to see Blair and Chuck Bass smiling smugly down at them. "But we have some important news" chuck continued
Blair strode forward looking proud of herself to sit on the char, wincing at how uncomfortable it was and slammed some files onto the table. Serena and Nate gave her a questioning look.
This time Blair answered "We've got a plan to take Humphry down"
A/N told you I would update this week : ) so this chapter was mainly S getting over D and a little NS friendship fluff, but don't worry I have plans to get them to get together very soon. Just a little heads up it might take me a while to update because I haven't actually thought of a scheme worthy of Humphry yet and I've got allot of school work to do, as always please do revue I love hearing from you guys