He closed his eyes and breathed in a deep scent of Serena’s clarifying
shampoo. He’d kissed a few
girls and had even gone to third base last june with L’Wren Knowes, a
very experienced older Senior, who really did seem to know everything.
But kissing Serena would be..different. He loved her. It was as simple
as that. She was his best friend, and he loved her. ----- “Let’s stay together like this forever,” Serena murmured sleepily,
burrowing her nose into Nate’s warm neck. Then she remembered that her
parents wanted to send her to boarding school next year. She squeezed
her enormous navy blue eyes shut, but she no longer felt tired. Her
long, nearly black eyelashes fluttered against Nate’s neck as she opened
her eyes again. [..] She bent down and kissed Nate’s cheek, breathing
in the wonderful sandalwood soap smell of him and dampening his skin
with her tears. She was crying because she loved both him and Blair, and
she was never happier than when she was with them. How could she leave
her two best friends? And maybe she was crying because the idea of Blair and Nate snuggling on
his parents’ bed without her was simply too much to bear. ----- “Do you think he and that girl are really..?” Blair’s voice trailed off.
[..] Serena shrugged her shoulders sadly. How could the boy she loved
so dearly be so careless and insensitive? Didn’t he know that she lay in
bed every night imagining how it would be- them together – like an
Eternity perfume ad, only better? They even looked alike- sort of.
Didn’t he get it?
When she returned to the bedroom, Nate was lying next to a sleeping
Blair on top of the white eyelet bedspread, blinking up at the white
eyelet canopy overhead as if deciphering the constellations. Serena
climbed up next to him and lay down, reluctant to get under the covers
and add a layer of separation between her body and his. Instead, she
wound her long legs around him and pressed her face into his chest. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” she whispered, ever so softly. They lay like that for a minute, wide awake. Suddenly Nate felt more
turned on than he ever had in his life. Why now? Actually he was
starving. But he could stave off hunger if Serena would just roll on top
of him and kiss him. “Nate?” Serena was still drunk and felt relaxed and daring. Nate was
right there and she was right here. It just felt like the most obvious
thing in the world. “I know this might be weird but—“ she lifted her
head and looked down at him smiling expectantly up at her. Then she
didn’t say anything more, she just did it. She kissed him. Blair was only inches away, breathing deeply, but they couldn’t stop
kissing. Nate wasn’t even thinking about Blair. All he knew was how good
it felt to kiss the warm, familiar, incredible girl in his arms. Serena
had wanted to kiss Nate for so long, doing it for real was an
entire-body experience. She opened her eyes, watching him kiss her in a
tipsy haze. This is crazy, she tried to tell herself, still kissing. “I could just kiss you forever,” she murmured softly, her lips brushing
his. Nate opened his eyes and smiled ecstatically back at her, and her
heart exploded into a thousand glittering stars. She kissed him again,
more fervently this time. I love you, Nate! Her thoughts were so loud
she was sure she’d wake Blair, but maybe Blair would understand. After
all, they were best friends. And Blair’s crush on Nate was just a
flirty, childish thing, not real, not grown-up love. Not love like this.
Not kisses like this. Finally they dozed off, holding each other, their lips cracked and
parched from so much kissing.
Blair
turned her leaden head. Nate’s cheek was on Serena’s chest. His gray T-shirt
was off and he looked totally..blissful. Serena was wearing a skimpy white
camisole and was hugging Nate’s head tight. Blair bolted upright and kicked
away the covers, simultaneously removing them from their cozy cuddle sandwich
and revealing their long legs, which were all atangle. ----- “Summer,” Serena mused aloud. No school. Sunny days filled with kisses. Skinny-dipping. Nate. “I can’t wait.” She slipped her hand over Nate’s wrist
and squeezed his free hand. He squeezed back, and she kicked her feet happily
against the mattress, silently screaming with the thrill of it. This was just
the beginning, the beginning of her and Nate.