It had been a week since Seth left. Serena kept his distance from his family. She told them it broke her heart to be near them when she was a wreck. Elaine knew better. She knew Serena was off with Dan not even thinking about Seth. No one believed her, when she tried to set Serena up. They all said she was too pure of heart to ever do something so shady. Elaine felt like the only person who truly knew what was going on, the problem was she really knew nothing. She only knew the story that was setup for her to find. Seth planned this entire thing out, minus the Dan part. He wanted his mother to have closure when he left, in case he didn't come back.
Blair came to visit Serena in London and they rented an apartment. Dan would visit everyday until finally he decided it was better to just move in with them while they remained in London. Blair wasn't thrilled but she hardly had to talk to him since Dan and Serena spent most of their time in her room.
"Serena, if you and your boy toy insist on making questionable noises throughout the night, warm me first!" Blair screamed.
"Aw Blair, if I knew you were lonely I would have went a round with you first." Dan mocked.
"I'd rather skin myself then have your body touch mine." Blair shivered.
"B, we're sorry. We'll cool it down." Serena interjected.
"So have you seen Seth's family?" Blair changed the topic.
"No. Distance is key. I'll see them tomorrow."
"Shouldn't you have seen them, to keep up our story?"
"Nah, they know I had an internship to get back to."
"You better hope his works S, I foresee danger ahead." Blair said sarcastically.
Serena threw a bagel at Blair. They all laughed. They thought nothing would go wrong. They survived worse things before, this should be cake. They went on with there day.
The next day the phone rang off the hook. Serena hit Dan to pick it up. Dan lied there motionless. He knew if he pretended not to feel Serena punching him she would eventually give up. Serena played right into his game. She got tired and just threw herself over him. Straddling his hips, she answered the phone.
"Hello." Serena answered in a tired tone."
"Sorry if I woke you Serena."
"Who is this?"
"Its Richard, Seth's father."
"Oh I'm sorry, must have a bad connection. How are you?"
"Good. Is there anyway you can come by earlier today, there's things that we need to discuss." Richard quickly hung up.
Serena hung up the phone in a confused state. She smacked Dan in the face to wake him up. She told him all about the phone call and how urgent Richard sounded. She reluctantly got ready. If Richard called then it was important. If it had been Elaine, Serena would have ignored it completely.
She made her way up the manor steps and rang the bell. The butler greeted her with a kind smile. They all stared at her when she walked in the door. There was Seth's dad, mom, grandmother, and some unknown man. She thought the jig was up. They had to of known this was all an act, and they were here to scold her and tell her to never show her face here again.
"I didn't think you'd come." Elaine was the first to respond.
"Richard made it sound urgent."
"Well it is."
"Serena, Seth is dead." Richard quickly blurted out the truth.
Serena put her hand over her heart. She had never felt pain like this before. She didnt know what she was allowed to feel. This had all been a mistake, all on her part, and know he's dead. Tears ran down her cheek. She couldn't form words. She pressed her tongue against her teeth to push herself to talk. There was nothing.
"We understand how this affects you, even if you didnt know him that long." Richard took her hand. He wrote you a letter in case this happened. He worte us all one."
Serena took the letter, but feared what he wrote in the rest. Was this all a game? Was it going to end where he reveals only a portion of the truth to make her look bad. Serena ripped open the letter without hesitation.
Serena,
We knew this day we come, and it saddens me that you're reading this. The month we spent together was the best. I truly loved you from the bottom of my heart. I know that your heart belongs to someone else, but I'm happy you let me in enough. Don't worry about me, I'm sure it was painless and brave. That's the way I intended to die. Meeting you was a beatuiful accident. There is more for you out there than you know. I promise it will be okay.
Seth
Serena finished the letter quickly. She was confused by the end. Seth wrote sweet things, but ended this great letter with a riddle to her. She stuck the letter in her purse. She wiped off her face and porceeded to the living room.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone during this time." Serena said with an expressionless face.
"We understand. The funeral is tomorrow, followed by the reading of the will. We expect you here." Elaine replied with those demonic pushy eyes of her's.
Elaine kindly got up and grabbed Serena's arm to guide her out the door.
"You listen here you little slut. You will be here tomorrow, then after that you will disappear from town. Say this was all to much to handle and that you had to go home. I could embarass you, but I won't. For some strange reason Seth loved you."
"I'm sorry it had to be this way."
Serena awoke from bed at 5 am. She couldn't sleep the night before. Knowing that today was the funeral drained her. She couldnt take Dan or even Blair. She was given instructions to go alone. Mkae herself look like she pulled herself together for Seth, and only Seth. She put on her black dress and her hat. She made her way to the manor.
By the looks of the outside, over 100 people had to be there. It was more of a spectale than a funeral. People weren't even talking about him. Just death in general then moved on to other topics. Half these people probably didn't even know him. They thought it would be kind to come.
The procession started. The priest said beautiful words and the father gave the eulogy. This was all to much for her to take alone. The second the funeral ended she ran to the bathroom. She started bawling. She just couldn't stop. She found it hard to grasp air. She tried to collect herself. Before leaving she called Dan.
"Hey Dan, it's me S. I thought I could do this without you but I can't. It's just too much. They expect me to be perfect and strong. I'm falling apart."
She heard footsteps. She quickly hungup the phone and left the bathroom. Everyone had left. They all cleared out so fast you could feel the wind push past you. Next was the will and then she could leave. A man in a tacky brown suit leading the will hearing. Seth had recorded a videotape.
"Hi everyone. If you are watching this that means I have passed. I don't want you to all cry about it. Try to think of it as no more pain. I have been hiding something from you. I had a serve tumor. It was untreatable at this point. I didn't want to badger you. I lived life on my terms. The olny one who knew was Serena and I swore her to never tell. But she told me it would eventually come out and you didn't want you to hate her. She tried everything she could to get me help, yet I refused. For this selfless act, I leave my inheritance to her. I love you S."
The room was silent. There was the intenional gasp and cry every now and then, but Serena knew what they were thinking. What a gold digging whore! The truth was Serena knew nothing about this. They would never believe her.