MONTH 6

"Come on, Bass, pick up…pick up…pi-what the hell?" A furious Blair Waldorf screeched into the mouthpiece of her receiver as she yanked the phone away from her ear, glaring at the black lacquered antique with irritation. "Voicemail? Again? Where the hell are you, Bass?" Slamming the phone back down, the brunette queen bee marched off towards the living room, not caring if her high heels were scraping at the hand polished wooden floor.

That fucking ass! Blair seethed inwardly, leaving me with all the dirty work while he goes and does whatever the fuck he wants…ugh, it's like we're dating all over again that fucking rotten -

"Blair?"

The brunette froze, her foot dangling just above the last wooden step that led into the sunken in living room. Her hands balled into fists when she heard Nate call her name again, and winced when she felt him wrap an arm around her tense form.

"There you are, B," he said, his voice filled with relief - something which caused Blair to only flinch in guilt. "I've been looking everywhere for you…how was time with your mom?"

"Oh," Blair managed to choke out, "nothing special really. We did a little shopping, she complained about the weather, told me about how awful it was that Isabel was pregnant again…nothing too important, Nate."

She knew she sounded exasperated but with everything weighing down on her, she couldn't conceal her facade as perfectly as she should have. Turning around so that the two were face to face, Blair saw that Nate's usually sparkling green eyes were dimmed with distance and…distrust? What poison did Chuck feed him now?

Raising a hand, Blair brushed back a lock of Nate's golden brown hair and gave a small smile, her palm of her other hand resting against his chest. "What's wrong, Nate?"

At those words, the golden boy of New York heaved a sigh, closing his eyes momentarily before looking at Blair again - his eyes piercing. An accusation was held within them, a look of hope mingled with fear…Blair knew that look. She'd worn it on her own face countless of times during the nights when Chuck would stumble back home drunk, his coat smelling like some other girl's perfume. His slurred excuses and callous words only edging the glass shards deeper and deeper into Blair's heart.

Nate knew.

Oh fuck.

"Nate-"

"Tell me, Blair," he said, his voice hard and his sea glass orbs as furious as a stormy ocean, "not the lies…tell me the truth."

Fucking Gossip Girl…

Serena is sitting in her room today - not their room, she's sitting in her room - reading a magazine, sprawled atop the white and coffee colored duvet. It's the room that she'd moved out of a year ago, when she and Chuck because more than just van der Woodsen and Bass to each other…it was when they became Serena and Chuck, Chuck and Serena.

She thinks she's got a good enough eye to know those who care about her and those who don't - really, she does. She thinks she can take care of herself because she's been born and raised to learn how to, except the thing with Serena is, you can try and teach her things until the end of time rolls by. She won't learn if she doesn't want to.

And for the past twenty four years of her life, she's never needed to learn how to survive - because she's always had people fight off the demons for her.

Blair.

Nate.

Lily.

Every man that she's ever come into contact with…hell, even Carter fought with everything he had to save her, to protect her. To allow her to keep shining, uninterrupted by the gargoyles that creep around the streets, ready to smash your dreams into smithereens if they so much as catch a whiff of you.

Well, nobody fought for her this time. And Serena knows it too.

For all the love she had for Chuck, was he just too blinded to see that she was trying to show him that she cared? She wasn't trying to make him feel suffocated - no, not even close - she was trying to make sure he was alright. She was trying to make sure he didn't go back to being Chuck Bass, playboy of Manhattan…she was trying to make sure he was still her Chuck.

And oh, how that backfired.

"I know what you've done Serena, and I've turned a blind eye to it…unless you give me reason to reexamine everything."

Were those the same lips who'd uttered tender words of love and comfort to her ear? The lips who had playfully nipped at her neck and shoulders, who had kissed her stomach with reverence…was that her Chuck? The cold, cruel man who had openly mocked her, who had beaten down what little hope she had left in her heart…was that her Chuck?

Serena's not stupid, she knows that Chuck's been busy with the company and the hotel, the club, the finances, the stockbrokers, the board…she knows he's neck deep in paperwork, trying to live up to his father's reputation. Trying to make his own reputation, his own name. A name that didn't pepper itself with smoke and liquor.

But Serena also knows that Chuck is hiding something from her, she may be naive and overly hopeful in some cases but she's not totally unaware of how the human psyche functions. After all, she has been friends with Blair Waldorf since before she could talk. So she knows about the secret phone calls, the hush-hush under the table dealings…she knows that Chuck's been trying to hide the fact that Jenny Humphrey's in town which directly correlates to the matter that Dan Humphrey may be in town.

See.

Serena's not stupid. She knows when something is going on, even a blonde like her has that sixth sense of sorts. There's something in her head that's urging her to conduct a little investigation on what Carter said, if his words are to be believed…but at the same time, Serena just wants to give in. She just wants to lie in bed and hope that some savior will come rushing in…she wants a golden prince to sweep her away, and take care of herself and her baby.

That's how things have always worked for her.

But she's been lying in that bed for a week already and Chuck hasn't even stepped foot into the bedroom…hell, Serena doesn't think Chuck has stepped foot in the penthouse.

Giving a deep sigh, Serena throws the magazine into a corner and jumps off the bed. The room suddenly spins and becomes off center and Serena knows it's because she hasn't so much as stepped off of the high rise mattresses but within seconds, her sight is clear and Serena is marching up to her closet.

She'll be damned if she lets Chuck Bass win - no. She may be in love with the bastard but she's certainly not going to let him think that he's actually won, hell no.

She's Serena van der Woodsen and she can survive anything. Sure she may have always had a little help here and there, but that's just the way she operated. Everybody had their strengths - for Blair it was her words, for Chuck it was his connections, and for Serena it was the endless amount of love and devotion she received from others.

Who was she to refuse the tools that she'd been given?

"Stop number one," Serena muttered, pulling out a brown leather trench coat (that was now slightly tighter around her stomach since she was finally showing), "Carter Baizen's penthouse."

Pulling out the brown trench along with a slinky, long sleeved black minidress and black lace leggings, Serena also hunted down a pair of sky high jewel toned booties. Throwing on her outfit with the finesse of an actress before the first act, she spritzed on perfume, ran a brush through her hair, carefully applied eyeliner and mascara, slipped on a necklace, a few bracelets, and a few of her priceless Cartier rings. She found the rosy toned Chanel lipstick that she'd swiped from Blair a few weeks ago along with the earrings that someone had given her.

Taking a step back, Serena felt a surge of rejuvenation when she saw her reflection - she felt like conquering today. Wrapping a thick scarf around her neck and finding some charcoal gray gloves, Serena bounced towards her door, her face splayed into a wide smile.

Yanking open the handle, Serena was barely a foot out of the room before she saw one Chuck Bass standing right before her, a bouquet of yellow roses in his hand and dark circles under his eyes.

"Serena," he breathed in relief.

"No, no, no!" Jenny Humphrey-Baizen cried as she threw a few more items out of her closet, a platform hell just barely missing Claudia's head. Whipping around, Jenny saw the Irish maid's face was neutral and that somehow only fueled her ire. "What did I tell you, Claudia? Did you bring back my dress from Barney's? No, you didn't did you?" The cherub faced blonde cut in icily, "you were too lazy and stupid doing whatever it is you usually do to complete a task as simple as the one I gave you!"

"Mrs. Baizen-"

"No, you don't get to call me that." Jenny sniffed, "it's Madame, do you understand?"

Claudia sighed and dutifully nodded her head, her arms already halfway to high heaven with the scraps of cloth that Jenny had tossed out of her closet.

"I just can't believe…who would have the gall to take my clothes? Especially my pre-ordered fall gown! I…do you know how wonderful that color looked on me? Really, as if I…" the brunette's voice became muffled by the closet as she began to dig through the wardrobe again, trying to look for a gown that was of the same muted autumn tones as the one she had ordered from Barney's.

Claudia didn't know what else to do other than stand there. Despite the fact that Jenny Humphrey rarely spoke to her, when the Mrs. Baizen suddenly did decide to acknowledge her maid, she uttered things about things that a maid was never supposed to hear from her employer.

Good grief, lass, give it a rest, would you? The color of a muted autumn doesn't look good on you anymore than a faye pink would look good on an Irish rose.

Shifting her weight from one foot to the next, Claudia felt an burst of euphoria when she heard the doorbell ring.

"What was that?" Jenny demanded, her voice still muffled by the thick walls of her closet.

"Oh, nothing Mrs. B-ah, Madame. I'll just be getting the door, now." As fast as her feet could possibly move, Claudia quickly placed down the bundle of clothes atop Jenny's bed before scurrying out of the goldmine bedroom.

She managed to reach the doorway just as the second ring came through; whipping open the heavy brown doors, Claudia found herself face to face with a heavily pregnant brunette wearing quite a bit of dark eye makeup.

"Yes?" Claudia inquired politely, the woman seemed to extrude a sense of regal authority that Claudia knew could have only been bred from the Upper East Side. Unlike my own employer, she thought bitterly before offering a smile to the rosy cheeked girl before her.

The brunette shot Claudia a rather calculating - but warm - smile. "Yes, hello, I was wondering if a Mr. Carter Baizen was at home right now?" Her voice was sweet and inquisitive but also tinged with an icy undercurrent that Claudia was sure not to miss - a decade and a half of serving the elite had taught her that.

Moving to open the door a bit further, the Irish redhead saw a bundle of Louis Vuitton luggage behind her and shook her head apologetically. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss, but Mr. Baizen is still at work right now. Can I get your name, Miss?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, well…just tell him that an old friend of sorts came by for a visit. And, give this to him, will you?" Pulling a thick manilla folder from her dark brown leather handbag, the brunette handed it over to Claudia with another smile. "I'll be staying at The Mandarin for the next few days so tell him to stop by whenever he feels is…convenient." The last word that was uttered caused chills to run up Claudia's spine, a weak smile forced its way to the plump Irish maid's face.

"I'll be sure to do that, Miss. You have a nice day now, Miss."

"Oh, yes, thank you."

Just as Claudia was ready to close the door, one red faced Jenny Humphrey came tumbling out of the corridor, her brown eyes flashing with irritation.

"Claudia, do you know what I've just found? My mint green gown was crumpled in the very back of my closet and I…I…Georgina Sparks?" Jenny's eyes widened and her face blanched as she looked at the brunette standing outside the door.

The pale faced brunette before her merely sneered, an elegant frown appearing on her face. "So this is the whore that Carter ran off with? My, my…the gossips are kind to you, Brooklyn, you're more hideous in person than they say you are."

"What do you mean she's gone?" Dan Humphrey asked, his voice pitched with suppressed anger and spittle found themselves flying across he polished marble foyer.

The estate agent before him merely raised a cool brow. "I mean, Mr. Humphrey, that Miss Sparks is gone. She up and left just last night, saying that she needed to visit an old friend."

"Well then," Dan said, his voice mocking and bordering on psychotic, "would you care to tell me who this friend is, hm? I've just flown here on the red eye and I'll have you know that I am not the kind of man who takes kindly to the word 'no' so-"

"Then I'm sorry to say Mr. Humphrey, that 'no' is the only answer you'll be getting today. I have a strict policy to never reveal my clients location - that's a breech of privacy and privacy is something that all my clients possess." The agent retorted sharply, glancing down at his Rolex. "Now, if you'll excuse me Mr. Humphrey, I have an open house to be getting to."

Without so much as another word, the Armani suited agent turned on his heel, making his way to the Ferrari parked nearby.

"What do you mean she's gone?!" Dan Humphrey screeched behind him, "she can't be GONE! She's - the bitch is evil! I need to...she's the fucking mother of my baby! I need to know this information!"

"Mr. Humphrey, I bid you good day!" The agent called, not even bothering to turn around as the Brooklyn boy's jaw dropped down to the floor, his mind going into overdrive.

Where the fuck did the bitch go, now?

Hey there UES,

I've been quiet for a little while now but that doesn't mean that New York has been...from what I've heard, we've got a little G and S reunion coming forth! But look out S, G isn't really here for the sights and sounds...she's here for a little dish served cold.

And it seems like the honeymoon phase is falling apart for B and N...poor B, just can't seem to keep a relationship working for more than a few months, can she? Maybe you should take some relationship advice from J - she's kept her suitor by the cuff since their wedding!

And congrats to S - she's finally showing!

XOXO,

Gossip Girl

Review, please.