"Nate." Serena breathed lightly against his cheek. "Take me." She was lying against the pillows on his bed, her golden hair fanned out around her head like a halo. She was wearing a tight red corset and a golden necklace around her neck.

His sword clanged against his leg as he leaned down to kiss her. "My lady." He softly whispered as he kissed her. From far away the refrain of 'Run This Town' by: Jay-Z began to play.

"Why Sir Nate whatever is that?" Serena asked him puzzled.

"Oh ignore it my sweet it is nothing." Nate replied removing his sword and moving to take her in his arms.

The song got louder and Nate sat blot upright in bed. That was kind of messed up he thought as he answered the phone.

"Chuck it's eleven in the morning. What the hell is so important you had to wake me up this early on a Saturday?"

"Nathaniel. Meet me for lunch." Chuck said not even bothering with small talk or asking. "Our usual place at noon." With that he hung up and Nate threw his phone at the floor.

Sometimes he really felt like people thought they could just order him around, like he couldn't think for himself. Chuck tells him they're going to lunch. Carter threatens him. Serena says they shouldn't talk anymore. The damn Vanderbilts expect him to follow whatever plan they have for him. Nate was fucking sick of it. He was done being everyone's puppet. Nate Archibald was going to do whatever the hell he wanted from now on.

Presently, he wanted to run so he dug his Dartmouth sweatshirt and Adidas pants out of the laundry basket and grabbed his ipod on the way out the door.

As he ran Nate contemplated his life or, as he saw it, the life everyone else had told him how to live. Blair had demanded he ask her out so he had. Thus began their attempt at the perfect couple, a failure. Then Vanessa had forced him to try and be something besides the Golden Boy, it was intriguing so he went with it. Another failure. The Duchess or Countess or whatever the fuck she was, the Cougar, had wanted a kept boy toy and thus he'd practically become a gigiolo. Followed by repeat failures and a tiny Jenny Humphrey fling. He gnashed his teeth at the thought of Bree Buckley, big mistake that had been, but at least he had gotten under his family's skin.

Nate felt the rhythm of his feet hitting the pavement as he wondered why he always seemed to be moving from girl to girl at lightening speed. Revisiting past relationships that should have ended a long time ago, as if they had missed something the first time around. What had made him so unsatisfied?

The answer hit him like a ton of bricks.

None of those girls had ever been the one he was searching for. None of them had ever been the one he truly wanted. The girl had head fallen head over heels in love with at the tender age of five.

The biggest problem in every single relationship he had ever had was that not one of them was or could ever measure up to Serena van der Woodsen.

Nate stopped running because his head was spinning. He'd thought that it was over between them. They'd had their one night together (a supposed mistake) and then she had disappeared only to reappear a totally different person. He'd moved on, several times, but once again here he was dealing with feelings he'd thought were long gone. But what should he do about it?

Chuck would tell him to tap that ass. Blair would tell him to buy Serena a gift and profess his undying love with a poem. His grandfather would tell him to marry her because he mother was Lily Bass (nee Rhodes, now Humphrey). Carter would probably hire a hit man to kill if he even went near Serena. Nate took off running in the opposite direction of his apartment. It was time to visit the Waldorf penthouse.

Dorota let him in and told him Serena was staying in the guest room. No one else was home. Apparently Carter's enemies had caught up with him and he was cut off again so he had gone begging to collect on some old unpaid debts. Nate couldn't help but smile; sometimes karma showed up just when you least expected it.

He knocked softly on the door and Serena let him in. She was still wearing her nightgown and Nate couldn't help but admire how the color matched her eyes and its short length accentuated her long, toned legs.

"Nate, what are you doing here?" Serena asked slightly annoyed. "I thought we agreed that we shouldn't see each other for awhile."

"I never agreed to that." He replied his mind racing at how close she was. "And I don't think what happened between us was a mistake."

"Nate." Serena started but he interrupted her quickly.

"No, listen to me. We've spent so much time running from our feelings because of Blair, Vanessa, Dan, Carter, Bree, whoever. When are we going to stop running and just admit how we really feel?" He asked moving closer to her. Serena moved backwards until her back hit the wall and she was pinned by his body.

"You're my friend Nate. One of my best friends that's it." She said trying desperately to find something to say her mouth was going dry at his nearness. He smelled like sweat and crisp fall air and Nate. "It was just a kiss, that never should have happened."

"Serena, we both know that's a lie." Nate replied and his hands found their way to her waist. "We always have an excuse about why we can't be together. When are there be no excuses left? When we've exhausted all our other options? When can we finally have our happily ever after?"

"Nate I'm with Carter." His mouth was only inches from hers and Serena held her breath.

"Frankly my dear I don't give a shit." And with that he kissed her, pressing the full length of his body against hers.