I still own nothing but the plot. Please review!
Jenny doesn't see him again for a few months.
But then she has a class with him during her second semester. Since she took a lot of AP classes in high school, she's able to take her first business class in the spring of her freshman year when most don't get them until their sophomore year. But it turns out that Nate is a business major as well.
She discovers this on the first day after Winter Break. She's standing outside the classroom, surfing Facebook, when she hears him. She peeks around the corner and sees him. He's yelling and sounds upset. She tries not to eavesdrop. It isn't her place. They aren't friends anymore. Naturally, she hears everything he says, but he doesn't notice her; he's too involved in his conversation.
He is fighting with Serena. Something about her kissing another guy while her family was traveling. Carter is his name. Jenny can only assume that it is Carter Baizen and she shudders at the thought of Serena choosing Carter when she has Nate.
He looks like his eyes are glassy as he hangs up. He takes a deep breath and Jenny finds herself moving closer, turning the corner so that she is in his view.
He gasps when he sees her. "Jenny…" he whispers. It sounds like a prayer to her.
"Hey," is all she can say.
"You're in this class too?" When she nods, he smiles. And this time it is genuine. And Jenny feels like she can't breathe, the memories crashing over her like a wave. The best memories of high school are because of Nate Archibald.
"Awesome, we can sit together!" he says, leading the way into the classroom. They sit near each other in the center of the room. Jenny finds it impossible to pay attention to the professor when she is so close to him and she is engulfed in his scent.
After class, he asks her to go to lunch. She was going to get something anyway, so she says sure. She thinks maybe she can get him to reveal what is going on with Serena over lunch. But he doesn't say a word about it. Everything is totally normal, well as normal as it can be after years apart. They catch up. She tells him about Hudson and senior year, he tells her about what she missed in his life.
She apologizes for dropping out of his world.
He looks down at his feet, shifting in his seat and sipping his soda, clearly uncomfortable. Then he tells her how his world fell apart when she left.
"I just didn't get it," he says. "You were my best friend and you just chose to leave without so much as a goodbye. It really fucking hurt, Jen. I missed you."
Now her eyes are glassy. She didn't realize he'd even missed her, that he still cared despite everything she had done when she abandoned him. "You had Serena and your other friends. I knew you would be okay."
He sighs. "They weren't you. They could never be you."
The sadness is gone. She finds herself getting angry. "Really, Nate? Because from my recollection, you abandoned me when you started dating Serena. You replaced me with her." He starts to object, but she raises her hand to stop him. "I loved you so fucking much. It hurt so much. I had to leave. I had to do something to end the pain."
He sucks in a breath and it looks like he has realized something. He bites his lip and his blue eyes gaze into hers.
She can't breathe all of the sudden, with him this close and looking at her like that. She bites her lip.
"You… you loved me?" He looks like he really didn't know and Jenny is surprised. She really thought he'd figured it out long ago. She had acted like a lovesick puppy for years. He wasn't that oblivious.
"I thought you knew. I mean, I was obnoxiously obvious about it in high school. But that was a long time ago. We've grown up."
Nate nods, looking a bit dazed. Jenny decides that she never should have said anything. It just made things awkward. So she quickly changes the subject and thanks her lucky stars when he goes with it.
After that, they go back to how it was. Well, kind of, at least. He's still with Serena. So that makes things awkward. But they study together, sometimes. And they have lunch once a week. And they start running in the park together again before class. It's nice to have a friend again. It's nice to have Nate as a friend again.
But he doesn't tell Serena that they are hanging out. Jenny tries not to think about that. And he isn't her best friend anymore. But they are friends.
He tells her things. About his dad going to prison shortly after she left Manhattan and how it nearly broke him and his mom forever. About how, when his dad was released on parole, he relapsed and is now in a rehab upstate. How his mom has once again disappeared to their Hamptons estate in shame. About his problems with Serena.
Jenny files those secrets away in her brain, provides a shoulder to cry on.
He helps her through hard times too. When her mom gets sick, he goes with her to Hudson (he lies to Serena about where he is going, says he is visiting his dad, but Jenny tries to forget that fact). He stays with her at the hospital, brings her food, and gives her a shoulder to cry on for days. When they find out that her mom is on the road to recovery, she throws her arms around his neck and his arms wrap around her waist and he swings her around in the middle of a hallway in a hospital in Hudson. And she's never felt happier.
When they get back to Manhattan, he goes back to Serena. He kisses Jenny cheek at Grand Central Station and says he has to go, but he'll call her. But he doesn't call.
She sees him in class, and they text a bit, but it seems like he is keeping his distance again and she can't figure out what happened. They were fine until they weren't again.
One day, she's sitting in the main library on campus, studying for a test, when a book drops onto the table in front of her, the thud dragging her attention from her textbook. And there stands Serena, looking as stunning as usual. Her perfect blonde hair falls in waves and her outfit is a chic as ever, finished with her Marc Jacobs bag. And she's standing there in front of Jenny, looking like the younger girl had hurt her in some way.
And Jenny actually feels scared. Because a Serena Van Der Woodson scorned is never a good thing. And she certainly looks scorned.
"Hi, Little J. Long time no see. Do you have a minute to talk?" Before Jenny can answer, Serena continues. "You do? Great." The fake smile plastered on Serena's face stays in place as she sits opposite to Jenny at the otherwise empty table.
"I can't tell you how nice it's been to have you back, Little J. Nate and I really view you as a little sister. Unfortunately, though, sometimes we all need breaks from our siblings. And Nate needs a break from you. He asked me to give you a message: don't call him, he'll call you. Your unrequited love has just been an emotional drain on him. You understand, right? I mean, he can't afford to forget about important social obligations or me because you need him. He needs space to focus on his future, not dwell on his past. So you're going to stay away from him."
Jenny just sits there, her mouth hanging open a little, trying not to cry. She has no clue how Serena found out – if Nate told her or she found out some other way. She doesn't say anything, though. It's not worth it. Her hands clench under the table.
"Okay, well, I'm glad we had this chat, Little J. Thanks for understanding! And I'm sure I'll see you around soon." Another fake smile flashes across Serena's face before she gets up and leaves without so much as another glance in Jenny's direction. Her last sentence sounds a lot like a threat.
Jenny feels like she is in high school all over again. She's letting Nate and Serena break her again. And she can't do it. She can't fight for him. So she lets him go, again.
When he tries to talk to her in class, she ignores him. She deletes his name from her phone but the calls from the familiar number continue. He knocks on her door a few times, calling her name. She ignores that too. She can't allow herself to be sucked back in. He keeps trying this time.
Dan comes by the loft one day maybe a week later. He says he saw Nate, who has seemed 'off' for a while, and asks Jenny if she knows what's going on with him. She says she has no idea and to ask Serena. But the black circles under her eyes, her unbrushed hair, and pajamas in the middle of the day make him think differently. She's only ever gotten like this when something is up with Nate. He does the only thing he can do.
It turns out that her brother called Blair. Despite this one sided feud from Serena, Blair is Jenny's friend. And she understands the situation better than most. She and Nate and Jenny have history. History that Serena wasn't around for.
Queen B takes her for coffee off campus and they split croissants and gossip about Chuck and Blair's travels, classes, and Jenny's internship with Blair's mom. Everything but Nate. It's nice to hang out with Blair, she's fun and powerful and Jenny knows that deep down she cares about her. They start getting coffee once a week. Without Serena knowing, of course. No one wants to incur the wrath.
Dan thanks Blair because he sees Jenny perk up a bit.
Jenny is especially thrilled when Blair sets her up with Josh, a sophomore at Columbia who Blair knows from Hamilton House. He comes from Connecticut, from a good family that originally inhabited the Upper East Side before retreating to the suburbs.
Josh is nice and he compliments her in a way that no one but Nate ever has before. He brings her flowers before their first date. And Jenny blushes.
About a month into dating, right at the end of the semester, he takes her to a charity gala. Jenny doesn't say how much she doesn't want to go because she really likes the guy and this is his world. Hell, it used to be her world, too, before she ran away from it all. Josh brings her a glass of champagne and they toast to new beginnings and she smiles. Her red dress is fitted and low cut, but still classy. Her hair falls in golden waves and her makeup is light. He tells her how amazing she looks.
They mingle and Josh introduces her to some of his friends. It's nice.
She can sense the moment that Serena and Nate walk in. The hair on the back of her neck rises and she just knows that Nate's eyes are on her. And suddenly she can't breathe again. She kisses Josh's cheek and excuses herself for a moment to go outside to get fresh air.
She's fidgeting with her phone when the door opens behind her and she knows he is there.
"Jenny," he whispers, standing far too close to her. She can feel the heat radiating off of him and shudders. His hand is on her waist.
"I… I have to go," she says, running back inside as quickly as her heels will let her. He doesn't follow her.
He keeps calling and trying to talk to her in the halls and in class.
When Josh invites her to his parent's European home in Paris for the summer, she accepts. She's excited to get away from everything and spend the summer with him.
And the best part is that her cell phone doesn't work in France, so she doesn't hear from Nate all summer. It's a relief to not have to ignore him.