A Promise Made
TITLE: A Promise MadeDISCLAIMER: I don't own GG.
RATING: PG - 13
SHIP: Nate + Jenny of Gossip Girl
WORD COUNT: 713 words.
SUMMARY: Short story about Jenny's 18th birthday.
One night to be confused
One night to speed up truth
We had a promise made
Four hands and then away
Both under influence, we had
a divine scent to know what
to say, mind is a razor blade
To call for hands of above to
lean on wouldn't be good
enough for me, no.
- Jose Gonzalez
It's her birthday. She'll be eighteen at exactly 11:11 PM and she doesn't want to play Monopoly or throw a big party - she wants something else.
He knows already. It's no surprise to him when she shows up at the door of his apartment; they've been friends for years now. There was a point where they wouldn't even look at each other, but when he came around and apologized more than a year and a half ago, things slowly improved.
That's in the past though. Nate smiles at her and ushers her in - tells her happy birthday and asks her if she wants cake, says that he can run down to a nearby store and get one. Jenny shakes her head -- no, no, ice cream's just fine. They don't talk about what she really wants for her birthday, which she's talked about with him a few times. When she spoke about it in an offhand manner a few months ago, she'd had a boyfriend named Landon and Nate had taken note of it; a little while ago, some time after she'd broken up with Landon, she mentioned it again to Nate and a silent promise was made. They don't talk about that. They talk about his classes and how she'll attend a fashion school in the fall and the ridiculously embarrassing birthdays she's had in the past.
He asks what she wants to do. She suggests Twister. He agrees amiably and brings out the alcohol as well.
So there they are on the floor in his apartment, and there's music playing to drown out the silence that comes hand in hand with living alone. They're laughing, talking, drinking, playing and licking their ice cream cones at the same time. He laughs when he realizes how ridiculously good at multitasking they are and when he tells her, Jenny laughs too and loses her balance. She loses round one and refills her shot glass.
They drink a little more before going for round two. It's a bit more clumsy now and she's hovering above him -- she has one arm over his shoulder and she's basically on his lap, one leg on either side of him; his arms are on the red circles behind him, his feet placed on a yellow and a green circle. Her ice cream drips onto his neck and she apologizes with a laugh before leaning down and licking it off lightly. He shivers a little and she knows its not from the ice cream. Nate sinks slowly to the ground and he places his arms around her waist, pulling her on top of him, and Jenny stares into his eyes. She brushes her hands through his hair and Nate asks her what she wants for her birthday. She leans in and kisses him; she can taste champagne on his lips and her tongue explores his mouth after a few moments. She moves back to his lips and her hands trail down to his shirt, unbuttoning it so neatly he wonders if she's really as drunk as he thought. When his shirt's off he pulls away and tells her that this night's supposed to be about her, and so they switch and she's on the floor. He's sliding off her dress and underwear just like that, and she's cold for a moment before his hands warm her up. He bites and tugs around her neck and collarbone, kisses quickly placating the redness that appears. Jenny fails to be quiet. He smirks against her collarbone and she knows he's up to something; she closes her eyes and some moments later she can feel ice cream and champagne and his tongue in that order making a trail along her body, and she lets him make this night about her.
That night she becomes a different sort of Jenny for the first time, there in his arms again and again and again, and when 11:11 comes around, she doesn't feel the need to make a birthday wish.