[ OMG, take a chill pill, UES! I know you guys have been starved for drama all summer, but, seriously, back off! You know I love sharing, as long as it's not Prada, so I'll tell you as soon as I can, or as soon as I know. Don't worry, I'm not angry. I like feeling needed. You know you love me. XOXO, Gossip Girl. ]

"Dad, don't you think you were a little hard on Jenny?," Dan asked, as soon as her door was shut. Rufus was still angry, "No. She has no right to be that disrespectful. It just reminds me of that awful version of her when she fell in with that crowd at her school."

"Dad, I didn't like that Jenny either, but she only acted like that because she didn't feel like she was good enough for them. Now she has her design stuff, and she's way too sure of herself to do that again."

Rufus looked at his son in surprise, then smiled, "Since when were you so insightful about girls?"

Dan laughed, "All I'm saying is you need to trust her. She's earned it by now." "I guess…," Rufus trailed off and, two seconds later, there was a knock at the door.

"That's probably Miranda," Rufus said as he walked to the door, "Can you go get Jenny?" Dan nodded, even though Rufus couldn't see him, and got up. Rufus opened the door, and Miranda breezed in past him.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I'm late, I just had plans right before and I completely spaced and…" She trailed off as she remembered she'd never met Dan or Rufus before. "Whoops, sorry, where are my manners? Him, I'm Miranda Dunkirk. Rufus Humphrey, right?"

Rufus shook the surprise from his face and replied, "Yes, uhm, and Dan and Jenny are…" He trailed off as he turned and saw Dan walking back in from Jenny's room – without her.

"Uh, Dad? Jenny's gone."

[Well here's a surprising tip – D himself just texted me this pic of little J's open window asking where she is? Well? Anybody have some info for this concerned brother? And this curious gossip? Ooh, I kinda like using my powers for good. You know you love me. XOXO, Gossip Girl. ]

Jenny had turned her phone off on the way to Eric's, so she hadn't even seen the Gossip Girl blast, let alone the 5 calls, 3 texts, and 2 voicemails from Dan. As her cab pulled up at the Palace, she wiped her eyes and reached for her purse to pay just as Eric opened the door.

"Jenny! You ok?" She shook her head and kept digging in her purse for her wallet. He grabbed her wrist and she finally looked up at him, tears in her eyes. He whispered worriedly, "C'mon, Jen," and pulled at her wrists, trying to get her to step out.

"I have to pay him," she said, desperate and strained. "Jen," he whispered again and she looked back up." She saw the worry and concern in his eyes and tried to calm down a bit.

She let him pull her out of the cab and hand the cabby his money. She leaned against him and he grabbed her hand, "C'mon, let's get inside," and he led her into the Palace lobby and out from the cold NYC wind.

[Thank goodness for people walking the streets at night! Don't worry, D, your sister's upset, but, look, her friend's taking care of her. Aww, those two are too cute! J seems to have a thing for the gay ones… oh, haven't I told you yet? Apparently he's not just her gay friend anymore. You know you love me. XOXO, Gossip Girl.]

Back when Eric had first come out, he had felt awful about kissing Jenny's boyfriend. Asher had told Eric that Jenny understood the situation, but after seeing how she acted with him, Eric realized Asher had lied.

He'd ended it immediately, so he was really hurt when Jenny chose to defend Asher and her reputation instead of backing up her best friend. He couldn't believe how Jenny had been acting then – but after she had given up on that crowd, he'd finally gotten the old Jenny back.

And he'd realized how much he needed her, how much she kept him sane and happy. And how much she needed him, to get her through her rough patches, to keep her grounded, to keep her out of trouble.

During the first few weeks after his coming out and her fall from grace, they had spent most of their time together – partly because Eric was the only person Rufus trusted to be a good influence on Jenny. They'd gotten back to how they were before the whole Asher fiasco – but they'd never talked about it.

It was still too painful for both of them – both of them had had their hearts broken and both of them had been hurt by Gossip Girl blasts in a very public way.

So when, two weeks earlier, Jenny had texted him out of the blue apologizing for acting so conceited and obnoxious, he'd immediately apologized for kissing Asher. They hadn't said much else, but they both had felt better for getting it out there.

All this ancient history raced through Eric's mind as he led Jenny up to the Van der Bass suite. He glanced over at Jenny's sweet face and tried to figure out, for the millionth time, how he felt about her.

He knew he loved her as a friend. That had been it for a long time. But lately…

Lately he had these moments where he wondered what it would be like to kiss her. Not on the cheek, like she did whenever she was excited and rushing off to something.

He'd be listening to her chatter about her classes or something, and he'd watch her lips, wondering what she'd do if he pulled her to him and kissed her. Which was stupid, because they were just friends. Right?

But what did that even mean? He hadn't thought like that for a long time. He'd even seen her change before without getting turned on. So was this just a curiosity thing? Or had his feelings changed?

All he knew for sure was that right now he needed to take care of his Jenny and find out what was wrong.

[Don't worry, D, I've got confirmation from E. Little J is safe. But not necessarily from her father's wrath… what caused this epic meltdown? Well, I've gotten clearance now, so I can make this news official: J and D are the long-lost cousins who've just hit the jackpot. So why is little J crying? Maybe cuz her mom's the one who chose to keep them in Brooklyn. You know you love me. XOXO, Gossip Girl. ]

Author's note: So, if you couldn't tell, I'm definitely a Jenny/Eric 'shipper. I was so sad when they said he was gay. Well, the other couples are still up in the air for me, but I'm running with the Jenny/Eric idea. Send me a message if you have any suggestions? Thanks everyone!