"Its a Bitter Sweet symphony thats Life"

Serena van der Woodsen acknowledges that her dislike of Halloween was her only failing as a hard core party girl. Georgina had always owned this holiday in much the same way as Christmas had always belonged to Blair.

The blonde won Valentine's Day by default simply due to the sheer volume of flowers and chocolates that made their way to her door.

However, a soiree at the Waldorf-Astoria was not to be scoffed at so she donned her second best Givenchy gown and threw on a Cinderella mask. The gold tulle skirt is eerily reminiscent of the dress from the Shepherd wedding that it brought a well known pang to her chest.

She misses Chuck and Blair's little performance because she was hunched over the toilet, puking. And no, before you ask, the irony of the night isn't list on her. Blair steals the spotlight while S purges. One couldn't ask for a better utopia.

Aaron didn't seem to miss her much. He was busy with Vanessa when she returned. She's oddly transfixed by the sight of them talking, the memory of his kiss turning sour on her lips. It seems fitting- After all she did magic away Dan right from under V's nose did she not?

So she seeks out her drunken rake of a step brother. He is alone at the bar and Blair's absence is palpable but the murderous glint that she expects to see in his eyes is missing. He looks rather forlorn- well as forlorn as a Scotch touting, Armani wearing playboy can possibly look.

"Pick you poison," he speaks harshly, when she nudges him for a drink.

Three Martinis later and they're traipsing to the back room. Chuck doesn't reach out to help her when she elaborately trips and he doesn't notice that she's giggling like she's more than just tipsy, or when she flicks her gorgeous blond hair over one bare shoulder. It takes her a second to process how different he and Nate really are and it's the very first time she's seen this comparison in a positive light.

She is falling back onto the couch, leg stretched in the air, one lazy blue eye blinking in his direction, while he nurses his drink with both hands. His hair is slightly disheveled and his tie is askew but he looks kind of miserable- almost like he doesn't care.

Timing has never been Dan Humphrey's strong suit so he picks this instant to make his entrance. Serena scrambles to her feet and straightens her gown haphazardly, garnering a dark glance from her ex boyfriend.

"I thought I saw Georgina," he mumbles, barely coherent, his voice trailing off when he spots Chuck, sprawled over an arm chair. Dan gulps a little at his furrowed brow and stormy hazel eyes, when he thinks about the extensive role he's played in putting it there.

And also because there is more than one brunette on his mind at the moment.

Serena's sober now; her blood shot eyes wild with worry. "What is she doing here?" she half shrieks.

A lazy drawl from behind them informs her that she was here as Mr. Bass' date. A single Ferragamo heel is aimed at Mr. Bass' head. Serena, Dan notes has excellent aim.

"I haven't seen Nate or Blair either," Dan offers when Serena questions him about the Bitch's whereabouts.

There is a flicker of uncertain concern on Chuck's countenance but it vanishes as fast as his drink. The boy from Brooklyn is a little thrown off by this. As far as he can remember- and truthfully he chooses to forget- Georgina Sparks is troublesome but not dangerous.

He attributes much of the blonde's frantic anxiety to the fact that he could have caught her in a potentially compromising position with her pseudo sibling and he cringes at the thought. He's seen Bass in action [again something he chooses to forget] and presumes that incest would not be an insurmountable barrier.

He has the foresight to dodge out of her way in her mad dash to the door and her proximity still blocks his lungs. Its really not the time or place for such concerns but he is once more longing for the day that he will finally stop loving Serena van der Woodsen.

"You should be worried about your new friend. Nate tends to get away from his baby sitters in the sneakiest ways and Georgina Sparks would be an excellent example."

Dan shoots a confused look at Chuck; the boy's biting words rouse him from his reverie.

The drink has loosened his tongue and he shouldn't make another confession to Humphrey but he's sorely tempted to do so. Part of it is this urge to confide whenever Lonely Boy is around, regardless of its disastrous consequences. Part of it is the need to make him shiver in his boots.

So he starts his tale in a low raspy voice; so overtly creepy that a flashlight under his chin wouldn't have been uncalled for. He tells Dan the story of how he lost his virginity at an eighth grade birthday party. Blair's birthday party and they both wince at that.

He told him about how Georgie Sparks pushed him into a broom closet and impaled herself on him, deflowering him with about as much dignity as Florentino Ariza had been granted. And how she had tastefully brought up his mother name at the eve of Chuck's first climax. Little Chuck Bass had many more sordid details to deliver but Dan was already looking a little queasy and he didn't want hurl all over the plush carpet.

"Aren't you the least bit worried about Blair?" demands Dan, one hand on the door knob, assuming that a scorned Georgina would certainly get her revenge on the people who mattered most to Charles Bartholomew Bass. No prizes for guessing who. Shit. He meant Nate of course. He hopes he didn't wince visibly at the sound of her name.

"Blair would never leave with Georgina. I know her better than you do." The deadly quiet in his voice is a challenge. Chuck is battling the painful recollection of Dan's face looming over him in the dark stairwell telling him that he was the reason Blair wouldn't tell him she loved him. The knowledge that she had run to Humphrey for advice in much the same way she had once consulted Chuck about Nate was a deep blow.

He knew she was the only one for him- none before and none after. She and she alone was the only girl to touch his heart, through the layers of arrogance, insecurity and lust. It was all too easy to forget that she had loved before him and therefore didn't it stand to reason that her heart could accept another again?

All cards are on the table. Brown eyes capture black and both are locked in a heated gaze, the challenge to back down hangs in the air between them. This is the last hand after all and only one victor can emerge.

They have been enemies in every respect, in every imaginable situation. The moral clash, the sullied reputation and the dalliance with the sister. The black eye and this new feeling of rivalry though neither knew exactly what they vie for.

And then Dan's out into the night and the wind whips him with such spectacular force that he feels like he could be knocked off his feet. He pulls himself upright like the knight in shining armor he believes himself to be, shuddering a little because the military jacket he'd worn to the party is missing from the coat room. He's combed the place and the heiress he searches for is not present. The city in all its nightly glory presents itself to him with the whisper of a promise, the glittering haystack for his solitary needle. He spares one glance to the magnificent hotel as he exits it, realizing that he may have left the building but its menacing shadow still engulfs him.

For one crazy moment he can feel his adversary's eyes on him. Game on. Again.

A/N; There is a dramatic and highly charged sequel in the works for this story. Please tell me if you would all like me to omplete these threads in a new story.