Blair hugged her best friend tightly. "You're finally here!"

Serena smiled brightly at the brunette. "Thanks. We have so much to talk about."

"We do! Chuck was going to come over later but I can cancel."

Serena shook her head. "I'm tired anyway, long flight. I didn't know you and Chuck were talking again."

Blair shrugged. "He's trying really hard. I may be able to forgive him…this once."

"Good for you, B. Brunch tomorrow?"

Blair nodded. "Of course. See you there. And S…welcome home."

…

Serena refrained herself from running across the room and wrapping her arms around him. He walked cautiously behind Chuck. Chuck gave her a warm embrace and she planted a small kiss on his cheek. "Good to see you Chuck."

Nate turned to her. "You're back."

Serena nodded at him. "Yeah. I am." She pulled him in for a hug and he hugged her for a few seconds before pulling away. "Good to see you, Nate."

"I just stopped by to say hi but I have to get going. Are we all still having dinner tonight? I'll bring Jessica so you can meet her. See you guys later."

Serena frowned and turned to Chuck and Blair. "Is that the infamous…girl?"

Chuck shrugged and gave her his signature smirk. "I hope you're up for some competition."

…

"I just stopped by to ask if you wanted to go have brunch. We can catch up."

Nate gave her a quick glance. "I got up pretty early. Already had breakfast."

Serena nodded. "Right. So it's Christmas…remember our infamous snowball fights?"

Nate couldn't help but smile. "How could I forget? Blair still hasn't forgiving us for getting snow on her favorite suede shoes."

Serena laughed. "I still can't believe you talked me into ambushing her! You're the worst."

Nate sat next to her and before he knew it all the memories came rushing back. He leaned over and pressed his lips against hers. She was so warm and familiar and her lips quickly parted to make way for his tongue.

It all happened so quickly and Serena refused to slow down. She tore his shirt off and he slipped her dress off quickly. Serena felt her body ache in anticipation until it finally happened and she lost the ability to think or talk or feel anything except a big wave of pleasure.

Nate lay next to her silently and rolled out of bed once he regained his breathing. He was slipping his clothes back on when he heard Jessica's voice from outside the hall. Serena sat up instantly and quickly pulled her clothes back on. She heard the footsteps approaching and Nate pointed to the closet and she gathered her shoes and ran in there quickly.

Nate smoothed out his bed sheets and sat on the edge of his bed. Jessica knocked on the door lightly before opening it. She smiled at him. "Hey."

He gave her a smile. "Hey."

Jessica climbed on his lap and kissed him deeply. "I've been thinking about you all day."

Nate pulled away and let out a nervous laugh. Serena was watching their every move. "I can't do that right now, Jess."

She cut him off with a kiss and pressed her body against his until he lay backwards on the bed. Serena couldn't believe what she was seeing. Nate had been with her only a minute ago and now he was getting his clothes ripped off my some other girl.

Nate stopped her from taking his boxers off and rolled her off of him. "Seriously, I have to shower and go to brunch with my parents. I'll call you later, okay?"

She frowned at him. "Alright, alright. Talk to you later. But give me something to look forward to." She kissed him deeply and he kissed her back for a second before pulling away. "Bye."

Serena waited until the footsteps faded before walking angrily out of the closet.

Nate shot her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I didn't know she was coming."

Serena pushed past him and towards the door. "You're such an asshole."

…

Blair felt her jaw drop. "You slept with him?"

Serena frowned. "It just happened…he made me hide in the closet."

Blair shook her head in disapproval. "This is gonna get ugly, S. I'm telling you."

"It was a one time mistake. He has a girlfriend, he made it pretty clear that it meant nothing to him."

"Are you kidding me? He's been planning a way to propose to you since he was 7."

"He shoved me in the closet and then got it on with his actual girlfriend! He's the one that kissed me first! I hate him."

Blair's eyes widened in surprise. "What a jerk."

Serena heard her phone chime. She quickly read the text. "It's from Nate. He says we need to talk."

…

"Hey. I'm so glad you came."

Serena frowned at the gorgeous blonde in front of her. "What do you want?"

Nate quickly looked away. "I just wanted to apologize for what happened yesterday. That should've never happened. I got carried away."

Serena stood silently.

Nate ignored how fast his heart was beating. He looked at Serena as if what she had no effect on him at all. "I'm sorry you had to see me and Jessica. But I like her and she's my girlfriend now and you –"

Serena felt her face burn with anger. "And I'm just the girl you screwed. Thank you for calling me over here to tell me how little I mean to you."

Nate walked over to her and reached his arm out to touch her shoulder but she shoved him away. "I'm a big girl, Nate. I don't need your pity."

"Serena, stop. I don't pity you. And you know how I feel about you. I just need to move on."

"Just do both of us a favor and pretend I don't exist. Have a nice life."

"That's not now I want things to be between us."

"You should've thought about that before you shoved me in the closet."

…

Blair glared at Serena. She was annoyed that the blonde had dragged her to get ice cream in the middle of December. Serena frowned and took a bite of her ice cream. "I need to grieve."

Blair rolled her eyes. "I don't get you at all. You dumped him...3 months ago? Remember?"

"I had to go, B. It killed me. Besides he's known this girl for 2 months and he throws me to the curb to be with her."

"Let's talk about something happy. You're bringing me down."

Serena thought for a second. "We can go to Barney's? It's right down the street."

Blair led the way out of the ice cream shop. She pushed the door open eagerly and bumped into a man in a dark suit.

Serena and Blair exchanged a look. Blair cleared her throat and regained her composure. "Detective Given, happy holidays."

The detective gave them a friendly smile. "Thank you. Happy holidays to you both. Serena, I heard you moved back to town. I hope you enjoyed California."

Serena nodded a little too eagerly. "I did. Thanks."

He stepped out of the way to let them through. "Have a nice day. And don't get into too much trouble."

Blair and Serena quickly walked away. Blair looked over her shoulder. "I have so many bad memories associated with that guy."

Serena turned to Blair. "Happy thoughts remember?"

Blair rolled her eyes but smiled. "I missed you, S."

Serena smiled and wrapped an arm around her best friend. "Me too, B."