Well, No One Ever Said It Would Be Conventional
Written originally for the burnthe_city challenge
Characters: Serena van der Woodsen & Nate Archibald
Word Count/Rating: 674words/PG
Challenge Prompt: "Today was a fairytale..."
Serena van der Woodsen thought she knew Nate Archibald well. Growing up in the same lifestyle; accustomed to the same privileges, restricted by the same responsibilities and insecurities. They could trust each other, even when it felt like they could trust no one else.
Even when it felt like the constantly scheming and vindictive Blair and Chuck were against them.
They had formed a tight camaraderie to show the world that they didn’t need anyone else, even when Nate had Blair and Serena had everyone else.
Serena stood in the middle of the crowded Manhattan sidewalk now, as the romantic affections came rushing out of Nate’s mouth, between chapped lips in one rushed breath before he lost the nerve to speak at all.
“Serena, you’ve always been there…” He wanted to touch her, but didn’t want to startle her any further. “Even when you were away and you wanted me to, I couldn’t forget about you. I could never forget about you.” He had had difficulties expressing any emotions or real feelings to Blair, and that had been their demise in the end; but he found the words so easy with the blonde in front of him.
“Don’t leave. Don’t leave when we finally have our chance…”
She had been about to climb into the idling black town car when he caught up with her outside her mother’s apartment building, to be whisked away by the cousin, who until only recently, had been an older brother to the lone Archibald heir.
If he allowed her to leave tonight, there would be no more chances for them. They would be denied their right to at least try for a storybook ending.
“Nate…” His familiar name came out more breathy than she had intended. “Too much has happened. I can’t stay here anymore.” Her large city was crumbling in around her and she needed to escape before it was too late.
“It’s nothing that you haven’t faced before.” He reminded her softly.
Serena woke up, her vodka and tequila fuelled headache intensifying the glare of the mid-morning sun that came uninvited through the windows of the penthouse hotel suite; the curtains opened by an inconsiderate maid as an obvious reminder that she had forgotten to display the all important Do Not Disturb sign the night before.
The body, lying still in his alcohol-fuelled stupor, was face down in the soft pillows and as the fifteen year old heiress wrapped the cotton sheets around her frame, she tried to remember what exactly she had done the night before.
It had been the Shepherd wedding, and she had snuck away from the reception to go find the bar that the happy couple had decided to not have. Nate had followed her, to lead her back away from any danger.
Oh. Serena looked down at the naked, tanned back again; the unconscious body of one of her best friends, the unconscious body of her best friend’s boyfriend. Oops.
She needed to get out.
Serena smiled at Nate again, “you were always trying to save me from trouble.”
He was trying to save her from trouble again. If she left with the still-married Tripp van der Bilt she was going to be in more trouble than she could handle alone.
He had only the one shot at this. Grabbing her arms, and ignoring the man who was most likely watching them from the car that had been half-forgotten about by Serena; he kissed her with all the tenderness that she deserved and all the urgency that she warranted.
She didn’t pull away. She deepened the kiss, letting his tongue massage hers; letting him pull her body flush against his before she eventually, reluctantly pulled away with the need to speak.
“What are we doing?” She asked, the car now completely forgotten behind her.
“We’re being us.” Nate couldn’t articulate anything else. “We’re just finally giving us a chance.”
No one ever said that their fairytale story would be a conventional one; but at least it would be an interesting one.