Hey guys! I'm sorry I'm not updating very often but I've started college again and am very busy! I'll try my best to upload soon, I've already written most of the next few chapters anyway. Hope you like it and let me know what you think!

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"You're in love with Chuck, right?"

The question caught Blair off guard. She looked at the blonde seated across from her. "Yeah."

"How do you know? Where is the line between loving someone as a friend and then…as more than that?"

Blair thought about the question carefully. "I guess I just can't picture myself without him. But it's more than that. It's that you find yourself waiting all day for a text or a call. It's more than that. I really can't explain it."

"Is it possible to not be capable of feeling that?"

Blair smiled at Serena. "Maybe you just haven't found the right person."

"I want to be with Nate. I manage to screw everything up."

Blair shrugged. "Chuck screws up on a daily basis. The kid is an idiot. But if it's meant to be then it's meant to be."

"So you're saying…I should go for it?"

"I'm saying you're going to regret it for the rest of your life if you don't at least try."

Serena nodded. Her heart was suddenly beating ten times faster. She got up quickly. "Thanks, B."

Blair looked at her. "Where are you going? We're not done eating!"

Serena was already halfway out the door. "To find Nate!"

…

Serena walked into Nate's townhouse to find him sitting at his dinner table with a pretty girl she'd seen at school. Nate's eyes widened when he saw her. "Serena…hi. What are you doing here?"

Serena looked at him. Had she just interrupted a date? "I need to talk to you."

"I….uh...okay. Nicole, I'll be right back."

She followed Nate into the next room. "What are you doing?"

He didn't expect that question. "She offered to come over and make me dinner. It's actually pretty good. Wait, what are you doing here?"

Serena felt her palms get sweaty. She pictured herself bursting into the room and kissing him passionately and then he'd understand everything but now she had to think of a speech. "Well…I…wait, are you on a date? Why are you on a date?"

Nate gave her a confused look. "What?"

"Do you like her? Because you said you liked me. And that was only a week ago. So I don't really think you should change your mind. This is a really bad time for you to do that. Because I…"

"Serena…you're rambling. What's going on?" He was starting to get concerned. "And I haven't changed my mind. Not about you. But she's nice….are you alright?"

"I'm just nervous."

"Nervous? Why? What happened?"

"Look, Nate, I know this is a bad time. Because you're on a date with someone else and all but I can't stop thinking about you. Ever. I try really hard but it's not working."

Nate gave her an amused look. He liked where this was going. "Uh huh…"

"And I was wondering if you could…or still wanted to…"

Nate considered helping her out. But it was way too much fun to watch her squirm.

She shook her head. "Wait let me start over."

Nate nodded. "Okay."

"I want to be with you."

That was way more than he expected. He sat down on the couch silently.

"Nate?" She gave him a concerned look. "Are you alright?"

He smiled up at her. "I've been wanting you to say that for a really long time. And now you did…and it feels…way better than I thought it would."

She smiled and hugged him tightly.

He pulled away after a few seconds and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Now I'm gonna get back to my date."

Serena punched his arm.

"Ow. That was a joke!" He laughed.

Serena crossed her arms over her chest but she couldn't help but smile. "Well it wasn't funny."

…

Serena was getting ready to have lunch with Nate when she heard the doorbell ring. She quickly opened the door and felt her heart stop when she saw who was in the doorway. "What are you doing here? Come in."

She quickly closed the door behind him. He looked at her. "Miss van der Woodsen, I'm sorry to drop in like this. But I just had to talk to you."

She wasn't used to seeing Detective Given without his suit on. He wore jeans and a white polo. She frowned at him. "I thought we told you to leave us alone."

He nodded. "I understand. I know that this has all been hard on you. And that you've been…"

Serena rolled her eyes. "Mentally unstable."

"I'm sorry I came. I just…I need to know."

Serena looked at him. "This isn't just a case for you is it?"

He gave her an empty smile. "The other officers say it's normal for me to feel so heavily invested in my first investigation."

"I'll tell you everything I know."

He looked surprised. "You will?"

She nodded. "Take your little notepad out."

"I asked Georgina to come along that night because she had a bad week. Her parents were cutting her off because of her drug problem. She was in an abusive relationship with her drug dealer. And she owed him money and had no way to pay it off. We were friends once, when I was more like her."

"Who was her drug dealer?"

Serena looked around the room. "Damien. Damien Dalgaard."

The detective wrote as quickly as his hand would allow him. "And then you invited her over. You went to sleep. And she was just gone. Right?"

Serena bit her lip. "We all went to sleep. But she woke me up before she left. She told me –"

Nate opened the door and frowned at them. "Serena?" He shot the detective a dirty look. "What the hell is he doing here?"

Serena went over to Nate. "I'm telling him."

"Are you joking! After all that's happened? In case it isn't obvious, I did not enjoy being hit by a car!"

The detective got up. "You're saying it was connected? Did Damien Dalgaard pay someone to hit you with a car? To send a message, to tell you to keep quiet?"

Nate shook his head at Serena. "Damn it, Serena."

Serena walked over to Nate. "Please don't be mad!"

"Don't be mad? Don't be mad!" He took a deep breath. "We all gave our word."

Serena frowned. "I trust him."

He turned to her angrily. "You trust him! Trust me! Trust Chuck, Blair. He doesn't give a fuck about us. He needs to solve this case to look good in front of his bosses. He would pin it all on us if he could!"

Serena stood her ground. "Stop yelling at me! I'm not a child."

Detective Given cleared his throat. "All of this information is confidential. No one will know what I know or how I know it."

Nate still frowned at Serena. She pulled him aside and locked her eyes on his. "Are you done yelling?"

He looked down at her. "I'm sorry I yelled. I just…"

She smiled. "I know. But I really think this is the best decision. And it would mean the world to me if you would show a little support."

He nodded and looked over at Detective Given. "I'm gonna grab a drink." He remembered he was underage. "Juice. Would you like some?"

…

Nate decided not to tell Blair or Chuck about him and Serena spilling their guts out to Detective Given. It's been two days since then and he'd gotten no death threats. Nate bounced a small basketball against the wall and caught it again. He did this for what seemed like forever and when Serena was finally ready he was speechless. He forgot to catch the ball and it hit his chest. He got up and cleared his throat. "Wow."

Serena smiled and twirled for him. "You like?"

Nate nodded. "I do."

Serena gave Nate a kiss on the lips and he intertwined his fingers with hers and led her out to the car. "Sorry I made you wait so long."

He kissed her cheek. "It was worth it."

When they got to the event, Chuck and Blair were already seated at their table. They walked over and quickly sat down, they were already late. Another stupid event their parents forced them to go to.

Serena walked over to the stage and took the mic. Lily had convinced her to introduce the next video. She smiled politely and waited for everyone to give her their attention. "Hi everyone. I'm Serena van der Woodsen. This next video is about a woman named Annie who at a young age developed Parkinson's disease. Your donations will fund the research that goes into making a cure possible. You can play the tape now."

Serena stood there politely and looked up at the projector. Her polite smile quickly turned into horror when the words "No one likes a Snitch! Xoxo" flashed onto the screen. The video was of Blair, Nate, Serena, and Chuck all standing in Blair's living room. Chuck's voice was loud and clear: We tell them nothing. We know nothing. Understood? The other three nodded and Serena began: What if...? Nate looked at her: Nothing. Blair was seen turning away from the rest: Georgina was nothing to us. That bitch got what she deserved. The screen went black but only because Blair had ripped out the cables from the projector.

Serena held her heart pound. That was one of the many conversations they'd had before they were brought into questioning. She walked quickly off the stage and joined her friends. The spectators were gaping at them, wondering if they were actually cold-blooded killers.

Nate put a strong arm around Serena and followed Chuck and Blair out of the room. He stopped for a second to snatch the DVD away from the tech guy. They quickly got into the car. Serena thought of something to say but no one else broke the silence. Blair clenched her fist and led the group out of their car and up to her penthouse. She was the one who was cast the cold hearted bitch.

She walked out of the elevator and couldn't hold it in anymore. She let out a loud scream and knocked the first vase she saw into the ground. She watched it fall on the ground with a million pieces. Dorota ran over with a broom to sweep it up. She turned to her. "Leave it! And get out of my face!"

She turned to her best friends, who stood silently to let her get her anger out. "That fucking bitch! We're snitches? We haven't said anything! We've talked to no one!"

Serena gave Nate a guilty glance Nate but he shook his head. Now was not the time to come clean. He looked over at Chuck. "We're gonna go. Good luck here."

Chuck nodded and watched as Blair paced angrily while cursing at the top of her lungs. Serena followed Nate to the elevator and into the car waiting for them. "We should've said something."

Nate shook his head. "She would've ripped our heads off. It's better she doesn't know."

Serena nodded. "You're right. Can you sleep over tonight?"

Nate smiled at kissed her forehead. "Sure."