chapter THIRTYONE.

Serena tossed Dan's coat aside - onto the floor - without looking. He fell backwards onto the couch, their lips still locked together relentlessly. Neither of them could breathe anymore, but they both wanted to continue kissing anyway. Serena climbed on top of his lap, her blonde hair cascading down her shoulders and chest, covering her eyes as she began unbuttoning the crisp white shirt he'd been wearing. "I love you, Dan Humphrey," she breathed, breaking the kiss for a moment.

He dove into her navy blue eyes with his own dark brown ones. "I love you, too."

Then they continued on in their little kiss fest, hands and arms and lips roaming everywhere. The only sounds in the entire van der Woodsen suite were of them breathing heavily as they made out. We should break up more often, Dan thought as he nibbled on Serena's lower lip and yanked her cashmere sweater off. Serena finally got the last button on his shirt unbuttoned and then she threw it off as if she absolutely couldn't wait to get under there.

"Wow. Have you been working out?" She joked, giggling wildly as she stroked his abs. A look of offense fell over Dan's features as he recognized the playful tone in her voice.

"Are you making fun of me? Huh? Are you?" He began tickling her sides and she started laughing even more hysterically, her blonde hair flying around and her legs kicking madly. Dan laughed too, but soon a distinct voice could be heard from outside, in the halls, ceasing his moment of ecstacy. Someone on the other side of the door was definitely talking.

He gently nudged Serena aside and stood up with haste, pulling his shirt and coat back on. Serena flashed him a curious look. "What; what is it--?" Dan lunged forward to cover her mouth and then jutted his pointer finger in the direction of the door. Once silence befell the room, Serena could hear her mother talking to someone right outside. Her eyes bulged and she too pushed herself off the couch, throwing her clothes back on.

They couldn't very well leave the suite without being noticed by Serena's mother and Mystery Man as they fled the scene, so they scurried over to the bathroom and slammed the door shut instead, locking it behind them just as the front door swung open. The coat rack rattled a bit from outside their new hiding spot and Serena heard two distinct sets of footsteps entering the suite. Someone dropped their bag onto the couch.

"It just baffles me how Serena could give up so easily on her relationship with Dan," said Lily, her voice clearly distraught as she confided in either Bart or Rufus in the living room.

"Hey Lil, you've got to remember to cut her some slack." The voice lacked the sinister and cold-heartedness that Serena might have heard in Bart Bass' voice, so it must have been Rufus. By the surprised look on Dan's face it was. "After all, I recall a time when you gave up the man you loved without putting up much of a fight, too." Serena pressed her ear against the door and heard her mother sigh heavily as something shifted on the leather couch.

"I know," Lily replied. Then Serena and Dan could hear the sound of a quick kiss on the other side of the door. Serena could picture them laying on the couch together, Lily's head resting on Rufus' chest and his lips in her blonde hair, planting gentle kisses on the top of her head every once and a while. They were probably holding hands as well.

"But I just wish she could understand that things aren't always black and white. That there's some gray in every situation and if she wants things to work out with Dan she'll need to fight a little harder. . . Sometimes I think she needs to feel like everything in her life is perfect, otherwise it'll seem totally wrong. It's been that way ever since she returned from boarding school. I think she still feels incredibly guilty for all the wrongs she's committed in the past. . . So guilty that she's trying her upmost to be flawless and pure for everyone else to atone for her previous sins."

Lily sighed again.

In the bathroom, Serena sat on the tiled floor, hugging her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs, avoiding Dan's eyes by now. Whether her mother knew it or not, she was embarassing Serena terribly. And now the youngest blonde just wished her mother would shut up. Still, though, she had to admit that what the eldest van der Woodsen was saying was true. . . And somehow this realization made Serena feel even more guilty for all she'd done.

Sleeping with Nate. Betraying her best friend. Ignoring everyone below her on the social ladder. Treating her loyal followers like crap. Abandoning Blair in her time of need. Coming back to the city only to cause even more ruckus. And then breaking up with Dan. . . Glassy tears welled up in her navy blue eyes and she ducked her head into the hole between her chest and her knees, sniffling softly. Somehow - between her life at boarding school and her return to the city - life had gotten unbelievably complicated and now she wished some miracle would just come along and uncomplicate things. . .

Dan crawled across the tiled floor and wrapped his arms around Serena, resting his head on hers and locking their fingers together. He knew when she needed cheering up and the only surefire way to get her to do so would be for him to mirror the actions of his father right outside, who was no doubt tenderly stroking Lily's hands or kissing her reassuringly on the cheek.

And even though Lily felt distraught and Rufus felt exhausted and Serena felt embarassed and Dan felt a little relieved now that he was reuinted with Serena, not once did the teenage couple feel awkward in the bathroom as their parents behaved like lovestruck children in the room just beside them. Which was definitely a step forward. . .

Except for when Rufus and Lily started going at it right on the living room couch several minutes later. That's when Dan and Serena had to cover their ears and shut their eyes until they fell asleep on the cold, tiled floor, pretending not to notice what was going on right outside the door.


Luckily none of the adults felt the need to pee while they were there!

you know you love me.
xoxo; gossip girl