Serena smiled to herself as she watched the sun setting from the balcony at her mother's apartment, she missed the way the afternoon rays bounced off the windows and made the busy city seem so calm. Of course she just had to look down at the streets to know that nothing would ever be calm in New York, not really, but for a few moments she let the lazy feeling wash over her.

Things with her mother where so much better than she had expected, there were a lot of tense moments, a lot of things Lily kept pushing under the rug but there were also a few breakthrough conversations and maybe just a little bit of healing, which Serena never realized she needed until it happened. The best thing was that Summer finally had a relationship with her grandmother, Lily looked at Summer the way she looked at Henry, and Summer lit up every single time she realized that Lily wasn't just being grandmotherly for show like she believed before.

Summer was starting school in a few days and that made Serena more nervous than she thought she would ever be. Blair had not only given Summer a crash course in school fashion but she also gave her a run-down of everything she needed to know about Constance Billard, telling her all about the hierarchies in the school. Being a former Queen, Blair knew who Summer needed to befriend to stay on top of things, Serena shook her head and rolled her eyes at Summer to tell her not to take things so seriously but Blair was adamant that her Godchild would take her former place on top on the social ladder.

Serena ran the tip of her finger over the rim of her coffee mug and rolled her head, trying to get all the knots out of her neck and shoulders. Ever since Summer decided she wanted to stay in New York, Serena had to get her life into order. The first thing she did was talk to Chuck about running her business from across the country and she had to admit, her step-brother was a little bit of a genius when it came to business, she always knew he'd take over from Bart, she just didn't know how good he'd be at it.

Once she sorted out all her business problems, she decided that she needed to find a place to stay for her and Summer. Her mother and Rufus had both told her that their place was big enough and there was no rush for them to leave but it was a temporary situation and they had already overstayed the time she had meant to stay there. Since Erik was back in town for another week before heading back to college, he and Blair had basically taken over the house hunting for her, and now that everything was sorted out she was a little bored.

Back in LA, Summer was constantly keeping her on her toes but since they got to New York, she had been keeping Nate, Blair and Lily occupied to the point where Serena kinda felt bad for them having to deal with her hyperactive child, although this was one of those afternoons when she was done with work and there really wasn't much else to do where she missed coming home and having Summer disturb her peace.

"Hey."

Serena was so deep in thought that she almost jumped out of her skin when he spoke, holding her palms to her chest. She realized too late that in doing so she let go of the cup she was holding and it was now falling toward the streets of the Upper East Side.

Nate laughed as he walked over to look over the balcony. "I would not like to be the person that hit," he said and Serena let out a strangled laugh and covered her burning face. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I thought I was alone," Serena said letting out a deep breath and turning to face him, only realizing how close he was to her then. "Where's Summ?"

"We met up with your mom downstairs, she said there were a few errands for an event she's planning so Summer wanted to go with her and see what goes into it," Nate said with a shrug. "You don't mind?"

"No of course not," Serena said shaking her head and smiling at him. "But why are you here and not doing what you usually do after you drop Summer off?"

"Can't a guy spend some time with his baby mama?" Nate asked and Serena burst out laughing.

"Don't ever say that again," she said and Nate smiled and watched her as she recovered.

"I ... you know it sounded better in my head," he said chuckling and turning to watch the city like she had been doing before. "But I did, want to spend some time with you, that is, of that's ok with you?"

"Oh," Serena said surprised. She leaned her forearms on the balcony rail next to him and mimicking him. "Well this afternoon it seems I have too much time, so you being here is more than ok."

Nate grinned and Serena smiled, watching him watch the city and trying to figure him out.

"What?" he asked after letting her stare in silence for a few moments. He tilted his head slightly and looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about how much everything has changed, how much you guys have changed," Serena said taking a deep breath, her eyes still on him. "It's a little overwhelming at times."

"I know," he said chuckling. "Every time I look at you I can remember this wild child, who said and did whatever the hell she pleased, and the only people whose opinions or feelings mattered were Erik and Blair."

"And you," Serena said, it was true, back then she was so angry at the world, she just refused to have anyone tell her what she could or couldn't do, but Erik, Blair and Nate were her weaknesses, no matter what state she was in, they meant everything to her.

Nate felt his breath catch in his throat when she spoke, "Of course Georgina's opinion had to have mattered as well," he said clearing his throat and looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Georgina was an enabler, I didn't care what she thought, as long as she could get me to where I needed to go," Serena told him and Nate nodded. "What happened to her anyway?"

"After you left, she got a little bored, caused some trouble with Blair," Nate said and Serena winced, knowing how much Blair hated the thought of Georgina. "So Blair went to her parents."

"She did what?" Serena asked, she never met Mr and Mrs Sparks but she knew that Georgina's parents were a special kind of scary if Georgina was afraid of them.

"Yeah," Nate said chuckling. "They put the fear of God in her, literally, the last we saw, Georgina was this leader in a religious camp and she was devoted to being a force of good, it was a little scary to be honest."

"Wow," Serena said, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide, when she left Georgina she was on every drug she knew she could find in Manhattan, she had been sleeping around with married men and she didn't even know what a church was. "Wow."

"We felt the same way," Nate said laughing at her reaction. "Blair kept poking her to see if she was actually there and not a hallucination."

"Wow," Serena said again. "Ok, if I keep thinking about this, I'm just going to keep saying wow."

"Chuck said that you're house hunting," Nate said steering the conversation as far away from Georgina as he could and Serena laughed at his lack of subtlety. "How's that going?"

"Well B and Erik are house hunting, I'm just waiting for them to find something," she said and Nate raised an eyebrow. "I looked at a couple places but Erik absolutely hated them, and since it'll probably be his home till he decides to move away from me, I let him take over."

"Less stress for you," Nate said knowingly and Serena laughed.

"You still know me too well," Serena told him and Nate grinned.

"We haven't changed as much as you want to believe," Nate said. "And also I recently relearned everything about you thanks you our daughter," he said and Serena's heart skipped a beat. "She's so much like you, the things she says and the way she acts sometimes, it's crazy."

"Sometimes a little too much," Serena laughed and covered her face. Nate reached out and pulled her hands away from her face and Serena blushed and looked at him confused. "Soon she'll be imitating you," Serena said clearing her throat.

"I wouldn't mind that," Nate said, letting go of her hands and looked away from her again as she continued to watch him. He was acting strange and she was trying not to look too much into it but the last time they spoke like this was before he found out about Summer and even then he was a little more guarded.

Maybe it was because he was acting like he did when they were 15 or maybe it was because everything her daughter and Blair were telling her about her feelings for Nate and even Chuck's nod were making her over think everything or maybe it was just because she wanted to, that she closed the space between them and kissed him when he turned to face her again. She could feel him stiffen in shock and then almost immediately relax into the kiss and pull her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that," she said when they broke apart, she tried to step out of his arms but Nate held her there and Serena took a measured breath to control her breathing as she looked into his blue eyes. "Lola..."

"That is the last thing you should be apologizing for," Nate said smirking at her expression but refusing to release her, he wanted to keep her in his arms as long as he possibly could. "Lola and I broke up."

"When?" Serena asked shocked because it hadn't been that long since she saw him run after her at the park. "And does Summer know?"

"I think Summer would be screaming from the rooftops if she knew," Nate said with a chuckle and Serena smiled and closed her eyes. "I ended it after that incident at Central Park when she asked me to choose between you and Summer, or her."

"Nate I'm sorry," Serena began to say and Nate shook his head quickly, it wasn't a choice.

"She's not you," he said and Serena's heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. "She'll never be you."

She barely processed his words when his lips were on hers again and her arms were around his neck.

"Mom! You'll never guess what happened," Summer bellowed from somewhere in the house and Nate and Serena sprang apart, looking at each other guiltily and arranging their expressions to be as neutral as possible before their 12 year old bounded onto the balcony. "We were walking to the caterers office and this mug just came out of nowhere, the lady in front of us screamed so loud ... Woah I'm getting some weird deja vu feelings here," she said as she noticed that both her parents were there not just her mom.

"What are you talking about honey?" Serena asked, swallowing and crossing her arms tightly across her body.

"Last time I walked out onto this balcony with you and dad alone, I found out dad was my dad," she said as if it were obvious and then squinted her eyes at her father. "Why are you still here? Grandma Lily and I were gone for like an hour."

"Enough with the 20 questions, we were just having a heart to heart," Serena said walking toward her daughter and turning her back toward the house and moving her so she'd walk in. She looked over her shoulder to see Nate smiling at her and she rolled her eyes and cocked her head to the door to tell him to follow.

"Another one?" Summer asked sounding disappointed. "I thought you guys were over your problems by now."

"Honey, it's like 13 years of problems we have to work through," Serena said, not ready to tell the girl exactly what happened before she walked in. Nate grunted next to her but Serena shot him a look and he held up his hands in surrender.

"Hey Nate," Erik said getting up to shake his hand and then hug his sister.

"Erik, when did you get back?" Nate asked, he hadn't seen the younger boy around for a while.

"Yesterday," he told Nate flopping down onto a couch and taking his niece with him. "And then I'm back at collage next week."

"Final year?" Nate asked and Erik nodded. "Good luck."

"Thanks man," Erik said letting Summer go so she could stand up.

"I should be going, I'll see you soon Summ," he said holding his arms out so that he could give Summer a hug and then looked to Serena.

"I'll walk you out," she said and Summer knitted her eyebrows together as she watched her parents suspiciously until Erik pulled her hair and she turned around to hit him, but he was already running in the opposite direction.

"Are they always like that?" Nate asked chuckling as he got into the elevator and Serena followed.

"They're like siblings that only get along on special occasions," Serena grumbled rolling her eyes.

Serena was going to say more but Nate pulled her in and kissed her again, only releasing her when the elevator pinged and the doors opened.

"Are you going to tell Summer?" he asked grabbing her hand and walking through the lobby.

"I'll tell her when I know what this is," she said tugging on his hand to stop him. "Not that I'm complaining, but just last week you were in a serious relationship and we were barely talking, now we're making out in secret?"

"Serena, you're it for me," Nate said seriously, cupping her cheek. "Things with Lola and I ended the moment you stepped out of that plane, I want to be with you, forever, but first I want to take you out on a real date, like I should have when we were kids, I want to do this right."

Serena looked up at him and Nate started to get nervous when she didn't respond immediately, but then she broke out into a smile and he mirrored her actions. "I think I'd like that."

"You think?"

"Just get out of here before I change my mind," Serena said shaking her head and Nate laughed leaning in to kiss her one last time before walking out and flagging down a cab.

Serena bit her lip and squealed internally as she watched him go, composing herself as much as she could before going back up to her mother's apartment.

A/N : Writing this chapter made me feel so mushy and happy and oh my NS heart, I wish we had them as endgame on the show

I always feel like I do things too quickly when I write, like have people forgive each other or get together so I need to guys to let me know if I'm off base of if this feels right

All I know is that, we're already 19 chapters in, I think it was about time haha

So, what do you guys think, I really hope you like this chapter, please leave a review and let me know, I love hearing your thoughts

Oh and guys I'm on time with my update! Aren't you proud? :D

Until Next time (^^,)