Chapter 7 – If you had to leave I wish that you would just leave

Easter rolled around fairly quietly on the Upper East Side. April 8th might as well have been any other day for all the changes it caused to most residents of Manhattan. However for Dan it was a great day, Jenny's flight had got into New York the night before and she had wanted to sleep so today was the first time he was going to see her since the summer. Of course she would be jetlagged and horrible to be around but he had missed his little sister and Britain had full sized chocolate eggs for their Easter celebrations and she had promised her family some of them, apparently she was even bringing one for Serena as she was so tied to the whole family now.

The cool air of the fresh morning greeted Dan as he rolled over in his bed to find the fire escape open. Glancing out he saw a blonde figure moving around outside, darting out of his bed he found the two people he hadn't expected to see here standing side by side. Jenny and Serena appeared to be talking in the most civilised manner since Jenny was a freshman at high school. Almost wanting to clap the two on the back for making the effort he wandered over to them, they suddenly broke off the conversation and it strangely reminded Dan of the time he caught Serena and his then best friend Vanessa bonding for the first time, that hadn't exactly gone swimmingly but perhaps his sister and girlfriend would learn to get along.

As she saw him coming Jenny went running over to her brother catapulting along in her high heels. With one courageous leap she ended up in his arms and grabbed hold of him from behind tugging him into a huge hug. "Dan!" she screamed as they embraced. All she could think was that she was home in Brooklyn, actually in her original home and Blair wasn't coming to shove her out. Jenny was fairly sure the Queen of the UES must have heard that the traitor to the state was coming home but she hadn't done anything. Dan was still surprised to see Serena with his sister, considering everything she had said about Jenny in the past it was a wonder she even was thinking about talking to her now. However if miracles could happen this was one Dan was pleased for.
"Hey Jen, I'm looking out for the flying pigs, are you and Serena actually speaking?" He really was as incredulous as he sounded; it was almost as if some random strangers had taken over the two most important girls in his life.

Really Jenny looked no different than before, same blonde hair extensions although they might have been dyed even whiter, the same dark shadowy eyes that had gained her the original raccoon jokes from Eric and the pretty face that was overall his sister. If the clothes she wore were anything to go by, she expected rain. On her feet were the large stilettos but beyond that she wore jeans and a long sleeved top, everything looked like it was braced for the April showers that had been sweeping London. Her hair was wrapped up in a knot beneath her shoulder blade with braids twirling out of it, basically she looked like the Jenny Humphrey he knew and loved. The Jenny Humphrey Serena knew and loathed.

Serena looked on at the reunion and tried to remain impartial to it all. In her heart of hearts she knew she would be acting the same way if Eric came home and she had made a promise to Dan that she would try and be nicer to Jenny in order to keep him sane. Really she wasn't being too bad, going to London seemed to have improved her, or at least reverted her back to the Jenny everyone had originally loved. Now it seemed that her only true friend remaining in New York was Eric and he was away right now. Bitterness was easily felt by Serena recently and she was suddenly hit by a wave of resentment for the fact that Eric sometimes seemed to love his step-sister more than his actual one. Some might argue that Serena loved her step-brother far more than her actual brother but things with Dan were different, they actually were in love rather than in a brother-sister relationship.

Finally disentangling herself from her brother Jenny hopped back into his room and immediately trotted over to Cedric, "Aww the cabbage patch kid is still there, does Blair still tease you about that?" asked Jenny with a laugh remembering the days back when she was impressionable and worked for Blair as if it was her life's duty, those days were certainly gone. Now Jenny was determine to stand on her own two feet, starting with this Easter back with the old crowd.

Serena and Dan followed in behind Jenny and Dan snatched his toy away from his sister how was now tugging it about in an attempt to make the ancient thing look a little more lively. The second Blair was brought up he clammed shut and Jenny gave up on trying to open him up again, instead Serena decided to use the opportunity to speak the message she was given by her mother and by Rufus. "My mom and your dad said that my old room is open for your usage for the time you're here, your room here isn't exactly capable of sleeping anyone anymore." If Jenny was confused as to any part of the answer she didn't show it, instead she breathed her thanks and excused herself to drag her stuff back to the penthouse where her father was waiting for her to return again. She had spent the night before with her mom in Hudson, her mother had been determined to see her before she went off to the rest of her family and also pointed out most of her clothes and items were there and that she might want some of them.

As Jenny went stalking off out the loft Dan hugged Serena to him. "Thank you for being nice," he said, glad that the meeting had gone better than he originally expected. What was the point in his sister coming for Easter if his own girlfriend couldn't put their petty squabble to an end? Turning Serena around they both sat down on the edge of his bed and, as Serena leant her head against Dan's shoulder as she remembered doing so many years before, Dan spoke, "So, what exactly were you doing on my fire escape early in the morning?" he asked her, wondering how she had opened the door to the outside world from his room where she had spent the night. His bed was fairly small and was not made for the two of them to both sleep on it but they were managing, it was fairly awkward for either of them to be around Blair so Serena spent most nights with Dan instead of with her best friend.

The clouds drifted by past his window and Serena didn't answer but Dan didn't really care, it felt nice just to have her here with her head resting against him. Her skin brushing his shoulder was gradually making him more and more determined to use this bed for another purpose. As he brought his hands around her and his face to hers they sank back into the happy pattern they had mastered way back in their junior year.