All You Can't Leave Behind

Epilogue

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Summary: The year is over. Now it's time to truly see if this friendship was meant to survive.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gossip Girl or any of the stupid storylines in Season 3 that I've heard about.

AN: And that's all she wrote! This was my first purely NJBC fic, and I really enjoyed writing it. There is another NJBC fic I'm working on called What It All Means. A short summary is on my profile under the "Coming Soon" category. Fair warning, though: It WILL be sad. So, I hope you enjoy the epilogue and how this story ends (or begins, really).

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One year after a friendship was shattered, four people went on their separate paths towards the place where it all ended. A house that was lonely and empty, as it always was for three seasons of the year.

An entire year had gone by. Four people who had always lived in harmony together began to live four separate lives. They tried to forget.

They soon learned that forgetting was simply impossible.

So they pretended as if they didn't care. It was as if nearly a decade of friendship turned to dust.

So there were merely looks shared. Eyes examining what each person had become, what they had faded into, the shadow of their former selves.

Just looks.

Between those who were complete opposites.

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"Are you ready for your first official boy-free summer?" Blair challenged Serena as she sipped her first martini of many that summer. "No Carter, no Dan, no pool boy. Although you never do survive one summer without at least a simple meaningless fling." She smirked.

"Are you ready for your first official summer with Chuck?" Serena countered. "I'm still not used to this. I mean, Chuck being a lovesick puppy and all."

The brunette rolled her eyes. "We're just trying to survive this summer, S," She lowered her gaze. "You of all people know that we don't have the best track record."

Serena reached out for Blair's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "You two will make it. I know it."

"What would I do without you?"

"Well, I promise that you'll never have to find out."

--

"So, Blair," Nate mused. "She's got you on a short leash."

"Nathaniel, you have to understand," Chuck muttered. "If I don't do what she asks, she gives me that look. That 'we're never having sex again' look. Do you know what it's like to have that on your shoulders?"

"I didn't say it was a bad thing, man," The blonde laughed. "It's just…I'm not used to seeing you this way."

"It's not like I've changed. I'm still the same person…Just with someone on my arm that I'm planning to keep."

"But she's done something. I just can't really describe it."

"If you're going to say I'm whipped, that's completely untrue."

"No, it's just…" Nate sighed. "You're happier than you've been in a long time."

"I'm just hoping she is too."

"She only wants you. That's not going to change."

--

Between those who were family.

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"Blair never stops talking about you!" Serena threw herself on her bed. "It's worse than last summer, when all she ever talked about was her plans to castrate you."

Chuck shuddered at the thought for a moment. "I must be an interesting topic of discussion."

"Hardly," Serena sat up. "Whatever she mentions about you these days just sets off my gag reflex."

"What can I say? Lately, Blair's been all for…trying new things."

"Ugh! That is exactly the kind of stuff that I do not need to hear. I'm your sister! She's my best friend! The images in my head…"

"You think about us?" He drawled. "Kinky."

Serena smacked him with a pillow.

"Just…Don't break her heart." Her tone suddenly became serious. "She's counting on you."

"I don't have any intentions to hurt her, sis."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart."

--

Between those who had always been.

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"You made breakfast?" Blair walked into the kitchen cautiously. "Since when does Nate Archibald cook?"

"I tend to watch the Food Network when I can't sleep." Blair just stared at him. "What? There's nothing else on TV at four in the morning!"

"Ew," She scrunched her nose. "Chocolate chip pancakes covered in strawberry syrup. The only person I know who likes this is…" Her eyes grew wide.

"Blair, it's not what you think-"

"You like her!" Blair squealed. She clapped her hands together in satisfaction as Nate turned bright red.

"I do not!" Nate weakly defended himself. "I just thought I'd do something nice for her."

"Like cook her favorite breakfast, something that only she likes?" Blair snorted. "That's not obvious at all."

Nate sighed. "Don't tell her, okay?"

"I won't," Blair smiled. "But you should. Before she gets caught up in one of her summer flings." She turned and started to walk back into her bedroom. "Oh, and while you're at it, make some eggs."

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Between those who would never be.

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"Natie!" A soaked Serena tackled the confused blonde. "Come and jump into the pool with me!"

Nate examined his now wrinkled and wet clothes. "I don't have a bathing suit on."

"It doesn't matter!" She laughed. "It'll be fun, I promise."

He was hesitant. Serena tugged on his arm.

She gave him that look. The one no one could resist. "Please? With cherries and whipped cream on top?"

He gave in, as anyone would. She clumsily led him to the pool, the hand now tightly wrapped in his.

"Ready?" He nodded. "One, two, three!"

And they jumped into the water, a cluster of limbs and giggles.

She gave him that smile. The one that he had been in love with since he was five.

"I love summer," Serena said softly. "It's just…different, you know?"

He nodded, because he did know. The atmosphere during summertime had always been different.

She was just looking at him now. Giving him that sweet, innocent look, the one only reserved for girls who hadn't grown up just yet.

He was staring at her lips. Her gorgeous lips.

Only inches between them. Only inches.

And it was growing shorter. Closer…

"Serena!" A shriek came from inside the house.

"That's my cue," Serena shrugged, as if she hadn't almost kissed him. "Thanks for jumping with me."

"Anytime," He offered. And he meant it.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek and lifted herself out of the pool.

Nate moved his fingers through his hair and sighed. Maybe it was best to just give up.

--

Between those who almost were.

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"You smell really good," Blair whispered in between kisses. She was propped up on the kitchen counter.

"As do you," Chuck added. "I'm glad that you didn't change your signature scent."

"Well, I'd rather have Charlize Theron than smell like desperation."

He chuckled a bit at their silly squabbles of the past. While the past year hadn't been a waste, it could have been less difficult if they hadn't been so stubborn.

"I love you."

Blair rolled her eyes playfully. "Believe me, I know. You've told me a few dozen times."

"So it's just worthless now?"

"I didn't say that," She chortled. "It's just…normal now."

"Normal," he echoed.

"Exactly."

"We're never going to be normal, Waldorf," He reminded her.

"But we can try!" She reasoned.

"I like us as we are, Waldorf. We're always going to be different."

She ran his fingers through his hair. "I had to choose you, didn't I?"

"Of course. I'm absolutely irresistible."

"Can't argue with that." She pressed her lips against his once more.

--

Four people stood in front of the house where it was meant to all begin, not end.

And so they all silently prayed for that magical force to be at work again. To fix this. To replace all hopelessness with simple hope.

Just maybe, something was still there.

They all held on to that hope of someday. And that wishful thinking of right now.

They had to try.

So, once again, in perfect order, the two dark-haired ones on the left, the two blondes on the right, their hands intertwined. And it fit just like it did a year ago. They would always fit.

Four friends stood in front of that house and stared into the new summer.

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fin