Disclaimer: I do not own "Gossip Girl."
Author's Note: As always, thank you for the reviews and comments! This chapter is a bit of lull in the action, just getting our four back into the flow of things after their night of sleep.
I hope you enjoy.
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"What is going on?" Blair snaps when the silence after the song's end has spanned several minutes.
There had been expectation of more from the four of them as they watched mother and son; perhaps another song, perhaps tears— but neither came. The older Serena did not sing and she did not cry, she simply held her younger child in her arms, his face pressed into her chest, and rocked him very slowly; her gaze turned inwards in thought.
"Ssh!" Serena whispers at the other girl, "Sunny can hear us," she reminds her heatedly, motioning towards the sleeping little boy.
The brunette frowns, but doesn't speak again. Instead she points towards the door with a decisive gesture.
And they all quietly exit the child's bedroom.
In the hall, Blair glares at Serena and Nate.
But it's Chuck who speaks from beside her, "Precisely what is going on here?" he wonders smoothly, eyeing them both.
Nate and Serena exchange a quick look.
And then Nate shrugs, offers the two brunettes a wan smile, "We… went for a walk…" he admits.
"Alone!?" Blair shrieks.
"Well no, B, together," Serena points out motioning between herself and Nate.
"Our agreement was to stay together," Chuck replies evenly and he's looking at them with heavy disapproval.
Nate shuffles his feet, cuts his eyes to Serena, "We just wanted to look around—we came right back."
Blair rolls her eyes and huffs. "Oh, I doubt that."
"Oh, stop it," Serena returns; a touch of a smirk on her lips. "It was my idea," she tells the other girl, "And nothing happened— we're all still here…"
Blair opens her mouth to speak, but Serena lifts a hand to indicate she hasn't finished, "Aaand…" she says, drawing the word out, "You two were asleep… and we can see how delightful you are when awoken early— imagine if it'd been an hour earlier!"
"An hour!" Blair gasps.
"Did you happen to find a way out of here on your little walk?" Chuck asks as he rubs at his hair and sighs.
He looks disgruntled, and still a little sleepy, they both do— him and Blair; and for some reason this makes Serena's lips twitch upwards. She sneaks a look at Nate and he's doing the same to her, their gazes clash unexpectedly, and it's going to happen, they can both tell— and they just can't avoid it.
They laugh.
And the words slip out before Serena can stop them, "You two are so adorable!" She coos and Nate grins.
Chuck and Blair had been doing okay while it wasn't mentioned, while they didn't think of it— focusing first, on the older Serena and then their best friends' apparent disregard for safety measures installed to keep anyone from being abandoned in what was quite obviously an alternate dimension— but it came rushing up to them then.
The fact that Serena Van der Woodsen has seen cuddling.
And they would never live it down.
Chuck frowns a bit at the blonde. But it's Blair who scowls, flushing a little, as she says, "Serena," darkly.
But Serena waves her hands, still giggling, "No, no! It's fine. There's not need to be embarrassed! Is there Nate?" She says and nudges him beside her.
He shakes his head, "Definitely not," he agrees, "I bet a lot of people cuddle!"
"Exactly!" Serena agrees, "Plenty of people can be that cute."
"Yeah," Nate says with emphasis, "Well not us," he says grinning and motioning between him and Serena, "We could never that cute..."
"Oh, no," Serena continues, but she's giggling a little too hard, tilting into Nate, "We could never be that cuddly."
"The bed was this big!" Blair cries, widening her hands a bit. "We were saving space…"
"You were welcome to join us, sis, and be cute and cuddly with us," Chuck drawls, smirking at her, "If you wanted to…"
Serena's giggle tapers off into an eye-roll and she straightens, while Blair jabs Chuck in the stomach and snaps, "Don't encourage her!"
Nate laughs, shakes his head at them.
And it's ridiculously normal to stand there in the hallway and bicker; as if they weren't apparitions haunting their future forms and their children with no inkling on how they arrived there or how to get back.
"Well…" Blair huffs after a moment, taking a deep breath and smoothing her hands down the front of her dress, "What was that about then? What's going on?" She asks motioning to the closed door of Sunny's room, voice gaining back it's equilibrium.
"Yes," Chuck says a touch sharply, eyes raking over them keenly, "What have you two been doing?" He wonders, and there's a faint smirk on lips, an oddly knowing look in his gaze.
Serena and Nate both jump a little, startled at the wording of the question.
And then Nate frowns at him, "We told you, we went for a walk."
"And she," Serena says, tapping her fingers on the closed door lightly, "Saw Nate… well, the older one… and they had a—?" she looks to her Nate, "Was that an argument?"
He considers, "Not really… they just…"
"She told him she didn't want the divorce and then he left and then she freaked out," Serena picks up when Nate trails off. "And then she came in here…" she adds after a moment, a very small glance at Nate.
He nods; returns the tiny glance. They don't need to mention the part about waking the older Chuck and Blair up-- that'll be their secret.
Blair eyes them both for a moment, like she can sense there's more; but she settles for fastening her brown eyes on Serena, "You're chipper this morning," she comments, voice even and almost neutral.
Almost, except for one thread of questioning concern.
It's Nate who laughs a little at the question and says, "New day," before Serena can respond.
And she laughs, a bit loudly because he's surprised her with his echo of her words, but no less delighted for it.
She looks at Blair and Chuck a moment later, with a grin on her face. "New day," she repeats.
And then she and Nate are both smiling at the slightly bewildered couple in front of them with nothing, but smug amusement on their faces reminiscent of the time they'd tried to explain to the pair how a jelly bean could taste purple.
The door opens then, before any of them could speak, and the older Serena comes through it.
She looks more haggard today than she had the day before; even than she had an hour earlier, like she was just barely holding it together suddenly. And she manages to walk right through Blair as she turns down the hallway.
The brunette squeaks, jumping to the side. "Oh I hate that," she grumbles and all three of them nod in agreement. It's a chilling sensation and brings into startling clarity just precisely how wrong their presence here is.
"We should see where she's off to then," Chuck says quietly, gaze following the older woman, but he doesn't sound too eager about the prospect.
They'd been swept up in the adrenaline, the panic, yesterday; focused on the impossibility and novelty of it all. Learning and absorbing so much it was hard to think just one thought alone, so thinking had to cease.
It was different today— a new day, certainly— but also slower somehow; the house around them was quieter than it had been in all the time they had seen it. No running children or frustrated adults yet, just a quiet woman walking slowly down the hallway… and the four them, invisible… and lost.
"Yes," Blair says carefully, "Let's go…"
They follow her down to the other of the hallway and watch as she opens a door to what is presumably her room.
"You two stay here," Blair commands of the boys.
Nate arcs an eyebrow, teases, "That's splitting up, Bla—"
She silences him with a look as she Serena follow the blondes older self into the bedroom.
He shakes his head at the closed door and shifts his eyes to Chuck. Chuck who's watching him closely and doesn't look so sleepy anymore; though the rumpled and un-tucked shirt, do serve to give the other boy a rather disheveled appearance. There are benefits to wearing t-shirts and shorts all summer long, Nate thinks, because he certainly doesn't look any more rumpled then usual.
"So tell me," Chuck says, "The two of you…" he motions towards the closed door, "You're… alright?"
Nate blinks, confusion flickering over his face, "Me and Blair?" He squawks, looking alarmed.
Chuck rolls his eyes, "No, Nathaniel. You and Serena."
"Oh…!" Nate nods, understand washing over his face, "Yeah, sure…" he tilts head to one side, "Why wouldn't we be?"
"I thought perhaps the dissolution of your future marriage might serve to dampen your moods."
Nate made a face at him, "Well, when you put it that way…?"
"What other way is there to put it?" Chuck asks, truly curious; eyes fixed on his sort-of-best-friend.
"It's not necessarily the dissolution of their marriage, you know…"
"It's not?"
"Not really, they could work it out. And it's kinda, a little bit, cool, don't you think? To see where we'll all be… I mean, look around…" he shrugs a little, "We're all still friends… like a family," he says with emphasis, "And Serena and I have problems, but we're married too… I mean, doesn't it make you happy to see yourself married to Blair?"
Chuck looks a little startled at the questions.
"I mean, I want to get home—'cause this is freaky," Nate amends quickly, "I'm not saying I don't! I just mean that—"
The door opens then and the older Serena emerges, dressed in a simple, pale blue cotton dress that's seen better days; it's sleeveless with a rounded neckline, tapered a bit just below her bust, and ends just above her knee. She's wearing white strappy sandals, has pulled her hair back into a pony-tale and applied a fresh coat of pink lip gloss.
The girls come rushing out behind her.
"We can't open doors here," Blair informs them with a sigh, watching as the older Serena walks to the staircase.
"We tried to open it after she closed it and couldn't," Serena continues.
"Wonderful," Chuck mutters; moving after the older woman. "We need to figure out what this is and how to undo today," he says, voicing the thought they're all having.
There are three silent nods at his words and all four of them move quietly behind the older Serena. There's no question that they're following her, there's really nothing more to do.
"You know," Nate says as they follow the woman down to the living room, "If you walk past the steps that way and go around, there're more stairs that take you to the kitchen…"
"Fascinating, Nathaniel."
Nate laughs, leans to the side and into Serena who is walking beside him, "Surly aren't they? When you interrupt their cuddle?" He teases.
Serena giggles, tosses her hair back, and she's about to respond when Blair looks back over her shoulder at the blonde with a dark glare. Serena settles for another giggle as they walk through the dining room and into the kitchen.
In front of them, Chuck shoots Blair an approving look.
"Oh, hi boys!" The older Serena's voice pulls the four of them out of their thoughts as they enter kitchen. It's full of light now; the way they had known it would be last night. The curtains on the windows pulled back and sunlight illuminating the space. They could see now the walls were painted a pale yellow bordered with a darker mustard color—it made the room glow, made it so they could envision it full of children and conversation.
At the moment, there are only two occupants of the room though. Liam and Cash are sitting on stools at the counter; both are wearing shorts, polo shirts, and sandal. Liam's are tan shorts with a pale green shirt; Cash's shorts are a plaid patter in a dull red and beige, his shirt is a warm red.
And they both spin around when Serena' speaks, sheets of paper very studiously flipped over, as Liam smiles at his mother and Cash nods.
"Hi Mom," Liam offers.
Cash smiles a little, "Hi…"
She smiles at them both, approaching them as she comments, "… you two are up early… everyone's still asleep…"
Cash nods. "Yeah, we're going to the beach…." He says shooting Liam a quick look; before adding, "As soon as the invaders get out of my pool house and we can get our gear."
Serena rolls her eyes, says, "Invaders?" questioningly as she reaches out touches the boys arm; there's a light of hesitancy in her eyes; Cash slips off his stool at her touch and walks right into her, wraps his arms around her in a hug.
She starts a little, gives Liam surprised look as she hugs him back. "Hey…" she says softly.
Cash nods as he pulls, "G'morning…"
She smiles at him, rubs her hand on his arm. "Everything cool?"
He nods. "Yeah… just you know… yesterday…"
She eyes him for a beat and then quirks her lisps a little, "What about yesterday?"
He ducks his head a bit and nods; before stepping away and sliding back up onto the stool. "Can you please go get them out of my pool house…" he huffs at his aunt, "You know they didn't even ask?"
Serena laughs a little, moves to Liam's side and touches his arm in much the same way. He smiles at her. And she answers Cash, "Ask you to join them you mean?"
Cash looks indignant. "No! Like I would!" He spits. "Didn't ask if they could invade!" He corrects her.
"It's not actually your pool house," his aunt points out, linking her arm through her son's, "We just humor you…"
"My stuff is in there," Cash protests.
"No one told you to leave it in there."
"Aunt S!" And somehow the exclamation is neither a pout nor a whine, but still manages to sound oddly pleading.
She laughs, nudges Liam in the side with her elbow, "You have anything to add to this?"
"Yeah," he tells her, but his gaze is on Cash, "Cash should be more careful…" he says. But the tone is not nearly as playful as Serena's is or as Cash's is; his pale blue eyes are fastened on the younger boys face.
Cash's dark eyes narrow slightly.
"Something's going on there," Blair says softly, motioning between the two boys. The four of them are standing in front of the kids now, watching the expressions on their faces with interest.
Chuck nods, "I do wonder what those are…" he says pointing at the sheets of paper both boys are leaning over now.
"Sometimes you can't be careful," Cash snaps back.
And his aunt laughs, "Okay, okay… don't you two get into it! It's too early for arguments…" she says, "I'll go wake them up…" she says, releasing Liam and pushing away from the counter, "It'll take a couple hours for showers and getting dressed to be done anyway." She says, "We're doing brunch today, so keep that in mind when you go to the beach…"
"Today?" Liam asks, "It's Saturday… brunch is usually on Sunday's…"
Serena shrugs, "Don't question the Queen B, Liam," his mother teases.
And Cash nods agreeably, smiling.
And he looks so incredibly innocent right then, his hair dark hair combed neatly to one side and his dark eyes shining gratefully and a sweet smile that shows a dimple at his cheek, that there's no doubt left—he's up to something.
But his Aunt has too much on her plate, is relying too heavily on auto pilot to see it; she's smiling and saying the right words, but her thoughts are elsewhere, her concentration fixed on problems already arisen and confronted rather than one building and hidden.
"Thanks, Aunt Serena!" Cash calls out as she moves across the kitchen, "Bring me back my lounge chair, yeah?!"
She tosses him a stern look over her shoulder, despite the smile on her face, "I'll clear the place of invaders, Cash. But you do your own lugging-what-you-need-out, got it?"
He sighs, still smiling, "If you insist."
She laughs at him, "I insist," she says and pushes the door open, slipping outside.
Chuck and Blair watch her go curiously; Blair opens her mouth to ask, Serena answer her before she speaks, "Goes out to the pool and house…" she points off to the side, and says a little smugly, "Those are the stairs Nate was telling you about."
Cash's rough sigh and the way he collapses against the stool's backrest draw all their attention to the two boys. Cash is slumping onto the counter and Liam is regarding him with a pinched expression and very serious eyes.
"That was close." Cash whispers at him, but he sounds oddly amused.
"You put those back and forget every single word you said to me, Cash," Liam orders.
Cash straightens, eyes narrowing a bit, "You know it's a good idea."
"What I know is that when Uncle Chuck finds out you took those from his safe you're going to end up in a Tibetan Monastery for a month... maybe more."
Cash arcs an eyebrow, "If he finds out."
Liam rolls his eyes, "Because the sudden appearance of those pictures all over the tabloids isn't going to tip him off?"
"There are other ways for things to leak, that's what I want your help with." Cash tells him very solemnly, "You know this would work."
"We don't know why your Dad has those set aside, why he hasn't used them yet… if we—"
"He has a lot of things set aside, Liam. I picked these because the guy's a congressman."
Liam frowns, "With a pregnant wife."
Cash grins, slaps his hand on the table and nods excitedly, "Exactly!"
He's so enthusiastic about it that it has Blair breathing a laugh as she shoots Chuck a look. But he's watching his future son with a very intent look on his face.
Liam huffs at the younger boy. "You'd really do that?" He asks, eyeing his cousin with a critical stare, "It could potentially ruin their family." He points out.
Cash glares at him for a long moment and then he huffs back, throwing his hands out to his sides, "Oh fine," he relents.
A moment later he leans back and flips the photographs over. "If you'd rather it be your mother on the front cover of every tabloid, fine."
Liam rolls his eyes, "Messing up someone else's family isn't going to help."
"It could… if it takes the heat off us." Cash counters.
"And what if it gets traced back?"
"It won't," he says firmly, "Dad has a guy that—"
"And how do you plan to use Uncle Chuck's guy without him finding out?"
"They're called bribes, Liam."
"It's deplorable, Cash."
Cash sighs, swings his feet, banging them against the legs of the stool. It's an oddly childlike motion considering what it is the boy is discussing, "I'm just trying to help." He mutters.
"You can help by putting those back," Liam tells him, "And seriously, stay out of Uncle Chuck's stuff. When he finds out he's—"
"If Liam," Cash corrects again. "I don't get caught." He says arrogantly after a beat.
"Is that what I think it is?" Serena asks peering over Cash's shoulder at the pictures.
"That would be a man and a woman having sex, yes," Blair says eyeing them as well.
"Presumably, not his pregnant wife," Chuck adds.
Nate blows out a breath, shakes his head, "Jeez."
"I don't think the world is ready for you two to procreate…" Serena mumbles, shooting Chuck and Blair a worried look.
"Seriously," Nate agrees with her, "Our kid likes to color in his free time…"
"Yours plots the downfall of congressmen…" Serena picks up.
Chuck and Blair turn simultaneously to deliver matching looks of disdain onto their blonder counterparts, but neither gets the chance to speak.
"At any moment, that can change," Liam tells the younger and all four of them transfer their attentions to the children once again.
Cash rolls his eyes in response.
A moment later, Liam presses his lips together and wonders, "And exactly what's up with suddenly wanting to take the heat off my Mom—? You've been all for the roasting lately…"
"Exactly what was up with the impromptu trip to Candice's yesterday?" Cash shoots back, waggling his eyebrows.
"How did you know about that?"
Cash shrugs, taps his fingers on the table, "I might have overheard something at the party… between Uncle Eric and Greg..."
"And exactly when would you have heard that if, as you said, you ditched as soon as you could…"
"I might have…" he trails off and smirks at Liam, taps one ear lightly.
Liam's eyes widen.
"Oooh," he says and then he's grinning suddenly, looking delighted, "But Aunt B told you to uninstall those!"
"And I did!" Cash replies, but he's looking delighted too, "I might have just… re-installed them... or had the guys setting up yesterday do it."
Liam shakes his head, but he's still grinning.
And suddenly the contrast between the two boys lessens; Liam's teenage disapproval melting away to reveal a little boy amusement that matches Cash's exactly.
"How'd you do it? And is it on the same frequency?" He asks his little cousin.
Cash nods. "Yeah," he says, "Same frequency—and I waited in the pool house till no one was watching and then I just…" the boy shrugs, "Handed them over to the guys putting the lights and tents up and told them to install it."
Liam nods. "Awesome," he says, "That works for me. I still miss being wired into the game-room though…"
Cash nods a little sadly, "Yeah me too… those conversations were always awesome!"
Liam's agreeing while he pushes up from the stool, "You want juice?" He offers.
Cash shakes head, answers, "Nah," And then presses wryly, "Come on… spill! What'd you guys… do…?"
Liam rolls his eyes as he moves to the refrigerator, "Your twelve-year-old… don't you have video games to think about or something…"
"Uh-huh, says the fourteen year old with shelves of them…" Cash retorts. "Did you get into her room? I would have gotten into her room. Was she in bed? What does she sleep in? I bet it's lacey and completely —"
"Cash!" Liam snaps, the amusement gone as he turns back around with the pitcher of orange juice.
The boy blinks at him. "What?"
"Propriety. Look it up."
Cash swings his legs again; spins on the stool— looks for all the world like an adorable young boy with nothing but sweetly, innocuous thoughts and pursuits.
Liam doesn't look particularly upset though when a moment later he's sitting back down and drinking juice, "You know we have to go to the beach now, right? Because you lied."
Cash gives him a big, fake smile. "Boo-hoo."
Liam puckers his lips and a moment later a perfectly straight line of orange juice is shooting from his mouth onto Cash.
The younger boy squeaks and rears back, but not fast enough. "Oh gross!" He cries staring down at his shirt, "I have to change now!"
Liam smiles, big and real. "Boo-hoo."
Cash scowls. "You're such a pain."
Liam laughs; stands as he finishes the contents of his glass, "You don't have to change, it'll dry."
Cash's scowl is still in place, "Yes, I do."
Liam rolls his eyes, "Fine… but go put those back before your parents get up, then change, and then meet me by the pool… we'll go fast and come back."
Cash sighs, but moves to do as the older boy says; gathers together the photographs and slips them inside a black folder they hadn't noticed was lying under the pictures. They all back away from him so as not to be walked through and then watch silently as he heads for the door.
He's at the threshold, when he stops and turns back to Liam.
"She was crying…" he says abruptly, dark eyes serious.
And Liam turns around from where he'd been putting the glass into the dishwasher. "Huh?"
"Last night," Cash continues, "In her room. Aunt Serena. I was in the hallway and I heard her." He finishes.
Liam straightens. "Oh."
Cash nods, "Yeah." And then he turns around.
"Hey," Liam says when he's already out of the room.
Cash pokes his head back in, "Yeah?"
"She wears a Yankees t-shirt to bed…." Liam offers, "No lace."
And Cash grins, "She's too good for you," he calls back and disappears around the door.
Liam rolls his eyes and turns back to close the dishwasher.
"Our son was going to leak pictures of a congressman's infidelity to the press." Blair says incredulously into the silent kitchen a moment later.
Liam is looking around, sighing a little, before moving towards the backdoor.
Chuck nods; and then a small pleased smirk appears on his face, "Seems so, yes."
Blair frowns, "Well don't look so proud about it."
"I'm not…"
"You're totally beaming," Serena points out, smiling a little and pointing towards the door, "Come on…"
Nate nods, steps towards her.
Chuck shrugs; doesn't deny it the words a second time and Blair sighs at him. He smirks at her, then takes her hand as they follow Serena and Nate out of the kitchen.
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