Disclaimer: I so own nothing. Wish I did, but sadly no. Oh, well! Enjoy!
Chapter 20.
Serena groans audibly when she hears a knock on her bedroom door. She groans again - this time louder - when she heard Eric's voice call out from the other side of the door.
"Serena, you know you can't stay there forever, right?"
Watch me, she thought to herself before burying her face into a pillow and lifting the covers over her head. She stays quiet for a while, satisfied because Eric seems to be giving up but when she heard the door creak open and close, she lets out a grunt.
She heard a couple of footsteps through the room before her blanket was suddenly yanked away from her.
"Hey!" She protests, trying - unsuccessfully - to reach the blanket that Eric's been holding in his hands. After some time, she gives up trying to get them, and instead plops down the bed again.
"You know you should be thankful that I'm the one here." Eric comments when she made no effort to acknowledge him again. "Blair wanted to come here to try knocking some sense out of you - her words, not mine. But I convinced her that I would do it. I figured you don't need scolding from Blair right now."
Now that seemed to get her attention because she looks up and looks at him.
"Oh, and Chuck got these bagels for you." He added, dropping a paper bag on Serena's bed.
"Thanks." She mumbles, already looking through the bag, pulling out a bagel.
"I'm going to go make you some coffee, okay?" Eric waits until she nods before heading towards the kitchen. "Go get dressed then come out."
...
"So, are you gonna tell me what happened between you and Dan at Nate's party?" Eric asks once Serena was seated beside him, coffee in hand.
"Do I have a choice?"
"Well, no not really."
"Well, if you must really know, no, nothing really happened."
"Serena." Eric looks at his sister incredulously. "If you aren't locking yourself in this apartment, I'd probably believe that."
He waits for a response, just simply stares at the blonde. But instead of answering, Serena grabs a pillow and throws it at Eric, just missing by a few inches.
"Why do you assume that this..." She starts, gesturing to herself and the place. "...is about Dan? Maybe it has something to do with Carter."
"Okay then." Eric nods his head, entertaining her statement. "So, what's the deal with Carter?"
"Well, Carter... He tried to kiss me."
"What?!" Eric practically shouts.
"But he didn't get the chance to because -"
"Because what? S..." Eric trails off when he notices the tears forming at the corners of Serena's eyes threatening to fall. He moves closer to her, wrapping an arm around her.
She takes a deep breath before continuing.
"Dan... He - he entered before Carter could actually kiss me."
"Okay..." When he notices that she stopped, he nudges her. "Then what happened?"
"He told Carter off by telling Carter that he's my boyfriend - that we just got back together and -"
"Wait, hold up." Eric pulls away from her, far enough so he could see her face. "You're back together?"
"No. That's the thing." Serena shakes her head. "Then Carter dared him to prove it, so he - umm..."
"S, tell me."
"Dan kissed me." She holds up a hand so that Eric stays silent as she continue her story. "It seemed to work because Carter left when we pulled away but then I asked him why he did that and he kissed me again."
"I - uhh.. Wow!"
"Do you now see my problem?" Serena groans.
"To be honest, I don't really see your problem."
"Eric..."
"No, Serena, I'm serious." Eric shoots her a serious glance. "You love Dan and he loves you and -"
"Hey!" Serena interrupts. "I don't -" She stops when Eric stares at her. "And he has a girlfriend!"
"You're not hearing me, Serena." Eric grabs her shoulders and shakes her lightly. "Dan loves you! He's in love with you! He always has been and he always will be. I'm pretty sure of that!"
'I love you Dan Humphrey. Always have, always will.'
"Now you just got to admit to yourself that you still love him."
"Maybe, I do." She whispers, intending just for herself but somehow Eric heard it because when he looks back up at him, he's shaking his head in disapproval.
"You do, Serena. There's no 'maybe' in there."
"I do." Slowly, she nods her head, wiping away her tears. "I still do. I love him. Always have, always will."
...
"Hey man. Can we talk?"
Dan looks up from his table to find Nate Archibald standing on the doorway. He inwardly groans when Nate enters the room completely, closing the door behind him - probably to prevent Jenny from eavesdropping.
He already knows what this is about - what they need to talk about. And to be honest, it is exactly the reason why he's been locked up in his room, shutting the world out for about a week - only going out when he needed to eat or use the bathroom. Other than that, he has already mastered the art of shutting people out that even Jenny doesn't even try anymore.
He knows this is about Serena van der Woodsen.
"I'm busy." He simply replies before going back to his work. He could hear Nate's footsteps coming closer and he groans in protest when Nate slams his notebook shut. "What the hell man?"
"Look, let me rephrase that. We need to talk."
"I can't right now, Nate. Can't you see I'm -"
"It's about Serena." Dan stills, even though he expected this already. He doesn't know why but he hears her name - those three syllables - and suddenly everything comes back to him. The kiss. That kiss that was etched in his mind and in his heart, the thing that he can't seem to regret even though he knows it's wrong.
Georgina doesn't even know yet.
"I don't know what happened between the two of you, alright?" Nate starts, taking his hands off of the notebook when he's absolutely sure he's got his attention. Dan's actually surprised Serena didn't tell them yet. "But I'm pretty sure something did happen, because she's doing the same thing you're doing right now."
"What? Talking to you?" Okay, so maybe that wasn't appropriate but he can't help it, especially when he saw how frustrated Nate got when he said that.
"That's not funny, Dan." Nate growls at him, looking as if he's struggling whether or not to punch Dan. "This is serious. What the hell happened? What did you do?"
Dan stays silent. He still can't explain to Nate, to Serena - to anyone, really - because he still doesn't quite understand it clearly.
"Dan."
"I kissed her, alright?" Dan practically yells at him, standing up and kicking his chair back before sitting at the bed. "I kissed Serena."
"I'm sorry, you what?"
"I kissed her, Nate."
"When?" Nate stifles a chuckle as he leans on the table- slightly not believing him, but shuts up when Dan glares at his way. He clears his throat before asking again. "Dan, when did you kiss her?"
"At the party."
"Wait, what?" He walks closer. "How did that happen?"
"Well, we were at the balcony and I was gone for a few minutes getting us drinks and when I came back, Carter was forcing her to kiss him." Dan saw Nate's fist clench - because he too was skeptical about Carter's presence at the party.
"That doesn't explain why you kissed her."
"I did it so he would back off Serena. I told him I was her boyfriend and that we -"
"You guys got back together?" There was surprise in Nate's voice but other than that he was calm and it makes him kind of glad that it isn't Jenny he's talking to, otherwise she would probably be screaming in excitement right now.
"No, I just said that." He gives Nate a pointed look when it looked like his friend was about to interrupt - effectively shutting him up. "And then Carter dared me to prove it so I kissed her."
"Okay..." Nate trailed off. Dan let his words sink in Nate's mind first before he continued.
"There's more." When Nate looks at him again, he sighs. "I kissed her again after Carter left."
"You what?!" Somehow his voice was louder than when he asked the same question the first time. "Dan, you do realize you have a girlfriend, right?"
"I know that." Dan replies. "I haven't even told her yet, and to be honest, when I kissed Serena - both times that I kissed her that night, Georgina never crossed my mind. It just dawned to me that I have a girlfriend a few minutes after I left Serena at the balcony."
"So, you just walked away? After kissing her twice?" He remains silent so Nate continues. "Man, why are you such an idiot?"
Dan groans, opting now to stare at his feet.
"You know what I think?"
"No, Nate, I don't." He replies, voice dripping with sarcasm. "And I would rather not know."
"I think..." Nate proceeds anyway. "...I know you're still in love with her - Serena, I mean. And the only thing getting in the way of the two of you getting back together is Georgina. Honestly, I don't even know why you and Georgina are still together because if I were you, I dumped Georgina the second Serena came back to New York."
"I'm confused."
"No, you're not." Nate sits down beside him, clamping a hand on Dan's shoulder. "You just don't want to admit to yourself that you still love her. I don't know why though, it's pretty obvious Serena feels the same way."
Both stayed silent for a few moments, then Nate stood up, preparing to leave.
"So, okay Dan, before I leave, I have to ask..." He waits until Dan is looking at him. "...Do you love Serena?"
He waits in silence as he watches Dan consider and ponder on the question. Finally, with a small smile on his face, he answers Nate.
"You know, to be honest, I don't think I ever really stopped."
"Then I guess you know what to do then?"
"Yeah, thanks man." Dan gave Nate a thankful smile and Nate nods at him before leaving.
...
Dan paced back and forth as he held his phone next to his ear, nervously waiting for her to answer. He didn't immediately call her when Nate left, rather, he even rehearsed what he's planning on saying to her. But he knows - he can feel that once she picked up all those things he wouldn't be able to say anything he planned on telling her. He scratches the back of his head with his free hand as he listens to the fourth ring. God, is she even going to pick up?
Finally, before the end of the fifth ring, she answered. Oh god, this is it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, uhh..."
"What do you want Dan?"
"Can we umm..." He stops, clears his throat before starting again. "We need to talk."
He hears her sigh on the other end.
"Fine." She seems reluctant, but he's thankful she agreed to talk. "Be here in twenty minutes. I have somewhere to be so make it quick, alright?"
"Okay then. See you in twenty, Georgina." Click.
.to be continued.
A/N: Oh my.. This story just hit a hundred reviews! Actually, more than a hundred reviews! And, OMG... Seriously, you guys are the best. Thank you to every single one of you guys that ever reviewed 'Forever'. You guys rock! I love you guys! Seriously, the BEST!
Okay, so I specifically aimed to update on this day because well, I'm gonna say it even though you guys obviously know what today is... Today is October 8th! Happy Happy October 8th!
Oh, and one more thing... Did you guys hear? Blake's pregnant! OMG, they're gonna have such a cute baby, I'm so happy for them! :))) I can't wait to see the little-Blake or little-Ryan. Yieee.
So, anyway, as always, I really do hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and please, do leave a review because as I always say, they make me smile and happy and I really, really appreciate them. Oh, and I apologize for any grammar and spelling mistakes!
Aiming to be able to update next week so here's to hoping! xx