Eternal Contemplations (9/?)
Title: Eternal Contemplations
Author: fading_tales
Pairing: Damon/Blair (Vampire Diaries/Gossip Girl cross-over)
Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl or any of their characters.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Timing means nothing and everything when you have an eternity to live.
chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Chapter Nine
"I'm back, B."
Once again, Blair Waldorf is given two choices on how to react in a situation. Serena is back. Her best friend in the whole wide world is back. And she doesn't know if she should be happy or angry.
"I can see that," Blair replies coldly.
She chooses the latter.
"B, I know you're upset with me."
"I don't think 'upset' is a strong enough word." She responds and then turns to Chuck and Nate with an accusatory glare. "What were you thinking, bringing her here?"
"I thought you'd be happy," Chuck answers.
"You thought wrong."
"Just hear her out, Blair," Nate speaks for the first time.
"Blair, I came back for you!"
"You left, S. You've been gone for an entire year and without telling me anything. I had to hear it from Gossip Girl."
"I know."
"You didn't call, you didn't write. Nothing. That day that you left, I waited for you on the Met steps. You knew that I was waiting. I needed you then, S. Where were you? You knew what was going on with my mom and dad. You knew and you ditched me anyways. We were supposed to be best friends."
"I know," Serena repeats.
"No, you don't! Because if you really knew what it meant then you wouldn't have ever left!" Blair cries.
"I'm so sorry, Blair. I was wrong. But I'm going to make it up to you. I swear."
"You can't just come back and expect everything to just pick up where you left off."
"I'm not trying to pick up where I left off. It's going to be better than that. I promise you."
"And how are you planning on doing that?" Blair scoffs. "You're not known for keeping your promises."
"This time is different. I'm different. Just give me a chance to talk."
Blair is conflicted. For the longest time all she wanted was for Serena to come back. If Serena was back, the world would make sense again. Nate wouldn't be weird anymore and her mother would become tolerable. The girls at school wouldn't dare disrespect her the way they had if she had Serena by her side. Life would be good so long as Serena comes back. That's what Blair had believed.
"You're right, Blair. We are best friends. Since we were in diapers! That has to count for something. Are you really going to throw all of that away without even giving me a chance?"
"She came to find you right away when she got back to New York," Nate supplies.
Blair turns to Chuck who merely shrugs his shoulders as if to say "It's all up to you."
"I'm back, B. I'm sorry for leaving, but I'm back. I was always going to come back. We're sisters."
Serena's long dark blonde eyelashes are damp with unshed tears, her eyes desperate, her lips quivering in a purely innocent and vulnerable way that one would not have expected to see on the bombshell vixen. It reminds Blair of that one time, when they were young and had watched from the top of the staircase how William Van der Woodsen had picked up his suitcase and walk out of the Van der Woodsen suite, never coming back. Serena was stubborn and refused to believe that her father would never come home. After a whole month of futile waiting on top of the staircase, she finally realized that dear old dad was gone for good. Serena had bawled her eyes out that night while Blair stroked her hair into the wee hours of the morning.
"Why won't he come back? Did I do something wrong?" she would sob.
"No," Blair would whisper reassuringly. "You've done nothing wrong. He's a jerk. That's all. You don't need him anyways. I'm here."
"You would never leave me like that would you?"
"Never," Blair promises.
"But what if your mom wants you to go home for dinner?" Serena points out.
"Then I'll just have to come back right away in the morning," Blair supplies without missing a beat.
"And then we'll have breakfast! With croissants!"
"And we'll watch Breakfast at Tiffany's!"
Serena makes a face, but nods enthusiastically nevertheless.
"We'll be together forever, right?"
"Yes, yes," Blair answers.
"I promise to stay with you forever, too, B. I'll never leave you. I'll always come back. Always. We're sisters."
"Yes, sisters," Blair agrees.
"Forgive me? Blair?" the grown up Serena pleads.
The two little girls in Blair's memory had sealed the deal with pink promises and then fell asleep in each other's arms, dreaming dreams of white castles and cotton candy clouds. Blair wants to return to those days.
"I… I-I really missed you, S," Blair manages to croak out. "Don't you dare leave again."
Serena's tears escape and run down her cheeks, but she doesn't bother to brush them away. She just knows that she's been offered a second chance, and she's going to take it.
xxx
Damon eavesdrops on the entire conversation between Blair and her old pals. If Katherine was the enigmatic figure in Damon's life then Serena Van der Woodsen would be Blair's. He's heard much of the golden haired vixen, but this was the first time he's actually seen the girl. Truth be told, he wasn't too impressed.
Yes, she was pretty with hair that seems to unnaturally glisten despite the fact that not a ray of sunshine could be found on this cloudy Virginian day. And yes, she really did have legs that went on for miles. But really, he couldn't see what all the fuss was about.
He knows her type. Serena is the 'It girl' who does whatever the hell she wants, gets whatever the hell she wants, and gets away with it because she has a winning smile. The thing about living forever is he knows how fleeting beauty can be (unless you're a vampire of course and then it gets old even faster). Time and age is the murderer of all that is beautiful and Serena Van der Woodsen will, too, know its wrath one day. You get tired of pretty faces and shallow minds. He hopes for her sake that there's something beneath all that blonde hair that would sustain her.
That is not to say that if he was given the opportunity Damon wouldn't try to sink those pearly whites of his into that tender sun-kissed skin. He is male after all, and pretty blondes make the best midnight snacks.
The thing that irks Damon the most about Serena, however, is not that annoyingly bright and shiny hair. It is her relationship with one Blair Waldorf. Damon had long attributed Serena's absence as the reason for that melancholic look Blair consistently wears underneath those coy smirks and smiles. Everything that Serena has done was forgivable because it was always to someone else. Blair was known to step on a few toes herself and she had always believed that those that got hurt were merely too weak, too insignificant to actually matter anyways. She never thought she would be counted among one of the victims of Serena's vanishing act. In Blair's eyes, Serena was the girl who could do no wrong (until she left that is). More than Nate Archibald, more than Chuck Bass, more than Eleanor Waldorf, Serena Van der Woodsen was the center of Blair's universe. She was the best friend who was more of a sister. They were partners in crime, the dynamic duo. They were rich, pretty and glamorous and they had each other. That was the important bit: the fact that they had each other, because all the money in the world, all the parties and designer labels and boys in the world wouldn't mean a thing otherwise. Without each other they were just another cliché poor rich girl sob story. But together? They made the impossible happen. They were in essence, soul mates if there was ever such a thing. And it is this fact that made Damon nervous.
Blair had told him to stay put and that she would handle it, but now with Serena, the wild card, thrown in the mix, Damon decides it's time to join the party. As if the driveway wasn't already getting crowded enough.
"Damon," Chuck growls underneath his breath at the older brunette's approach.
"Chuck. Nate. How are all of you doing?" Damon says with a mischievous smile. "And this is Serena I presume?"
"Yes… and you are?" Serena answers tentatively.
"He's a friend," Blair quickly supplies, shooting warning looks at him. Damon merely winks back.
As if the drama wasn't already at an all time high what with the prodigal BFF back in the picture, Stefan and Elena chose this exact moment to return from whatever little errand they went on and were driving up to the driveway. Damon was sure that Stefan won't be pleasantly surprised to find that the number of house guests at the Salvatore ancestral home have significantly increased.
"The name's Damon. Damon Salvatore. I'm the owner of this driveway," From the corner of his eye he sees Stefan, with Elena in tow, closing in on them and adds an amendment to his previous statement. "Well, co-owner. The broody guy in dire need of a hair cut who is approaching us is my brother, Stefan. He gets the other half of the driveway, but I have the side with the azaleas so I can't complain."
Serena laughs and both Blair and Chuck roll their eyes. From fifteen feet away Stefan can hear everything and would narrow his eyes even more if that were possible.
"Stefan! Come say hello!" Damon cockily calls out.
"Damon… who are all these people?" Stefan struggles to keep the exasperation and annoyance out of his voice.
"Why, our new house guests of course!"
"What?" Stefan, Elena and Blair all collectively exclaim.
"I thought you wanted me to get rid of them," Blair whispers vehemently.
"That's before when I thought only tweedle dee and tweedle dumb was here," Damon whispers back.
Blair should have known. Once Serena Van der Woodsen is in the picture, plans are often changed to accommodate the golden goddess.
"It's not like we don't have the room," Damon states aloud to the large party. "We have several guestrooms available."
"Damon, I need to talk to you." Stefan declares, attempting to pull Damon aside. "Excuse us."
"But I haven't even finished the introductions yet!"
"Damon."
Surprise, surprise. As always, Stefan is a total wet blanket about the whole thing.
"Alright, alright," Damon sighs. "I'll be right back, ladies," he adds with a wink. Chuck fumes at his retreating figure.
Stefan successfully draws him out of hearing range before launching into his tirade.
"What the hell are you doing? First Blair, now this? Are you trying to create your own army or something?" Stefan accuses.
"Huh! That's a clever idea. Wish I thought of that first."
Stefan answers with passive-aggressive accusatory silence.
"They're Blair's friends," Damon replies with a nonchalant shrug.
"Seriously, Damon. Every time you show up, it's just a parade of disaster and chaos and me cleaning up the mess of bodies you leave lying in your wake."
"Hey! I didn't even know they were coming. And I was just being a good Samaritan and offering them a place to stay. It's not like we don't have like a bazillion empty guestrooms."
"What is this? A hotel?"
"Would you rather I was killing people instead of sheltering them?" Damon replies in a fake flabbergasted voice.
Stefan just throws his hands up in the air, resigned to ride out the Damon tidal wave.
"How about next time you give me a little heads up at least?"
"What part of 'I didn't even know they were coming' did you not understand? I honestly did not know that Blair's whole entourage would follow her down here. I mean, come on. They're total rich prep school types and Mystic Falls isn't exactly Paris. I wouldn't have come here if I didn't have business to attend to."
"And are you ever going to share what exactly that business you are attending to with me?"
Damon merely smiles and waggles a finger teasingly at his younger brother.
"Nice try, little bro. But I want to keep it a surprise."
Basically Stefan is still as dumbfound as before and now he has more house guests to contend with.
"Hey, I get it. This is a lot of strangers in our home, but if it's any consolation… we can always get rid of the guys have ourselves a little harem," Damon jokes.
"Not. Funny."
Damon and Stefan soon make their way back to the party of five in time to catch some awkward small talk between Elena and the UES crowd. Relief instantly washed over Elena's facial expression as soon as she saw Stefan making his way back. Blair had not been exactly the best representative of what rich New Yorkers were like. Chuck was glad for the brothers' return too, but for a wholly different reason.
"Listen… thanks for your offer, but we actually booked a suite in the Hilton already-" Chuck begins.
"No! No, I'm here to see Blair and the hotel is like thirty minutes away," Serena whines.
"Yes, please stay. Damon was right, we do have a lot of empty rooms and you're welcome to them," Stefan invites politely.
Serena immediately jumps at the invitation.
"Really? Thank you so much," Serena gushes. "I'm sorry for causing trouble for you." Serena adds an angelic smile and a casual touch on Stefan's elbow to emphasize.
"N-No problem at all," Stefan stutters, feeling a bit light headed from the golden goddess's mere touch.
Elena zeros on the slight rosy hue on Stefan's pale cheeks and narrows her eyes at the blonde newcomer. She will later note this exchange in her diary with angry pen strokes.
"Stefan, sweetie," Elena emphasizes territorially. "Won't you drive me home?"
Stefan snaps out of his Serena daze and nods obediently at his girlfriend.
Blair has to give it to her, Elena is not a girl who would ever back down from a fight. In his defense, Stefan is not the first guy to blush and swoon in Serena's presence, nor would he be the last. Over the years of being the It Girl's BFF, Blair has seen many girls employ a variety of seductive or territorial techniques to combat against the Van der Woodsen charm. It makes it all the sadder when Serena takes their man all the same.
Damon rolls his eyes and smiles a smile that is more like a grimace when he notices Nate's quiet, but possessive gaze on the wrong girl.
Serena takes Blair's hand in hers and squeezes them affectionately. "This is so great, B. I have so much to talk to you about."
"Yeah… I'm… I'm glad you're back, S."
As the three new house guests get their belongings hauled up to the Salvatore mansion by Chuck's well paid driver, Blair catches Damon's arm and pulls him back behind the others.
"What are you planning?"
"I was thinking maybe a big make out session followed by heavy petting."
Blair smacks him in the arm.
"Quit messing around."
"Relax," he smiles reassuringly at her. "We're gonna have some fun. I was thinking that I could make Nate think he's a chicken for tonight's dinner entertainment. Get it? Nate, chicken, dinner… I eat people?" Damon jokes lamely.
She doesn't laugh and he admits it's not one of his best works.
"Don't you dare try any of that mind trick funny business with my friends," she hisses.
"You don't trust me?"
She wants to trust him. She might be the only person in the world insane enough to, but she thinks he needs someone campaigning on his side against all the Damon haters.
"…. Just don't, okay?"
"Oh, come on."
"Damon, promise me."
"You always become such a party pooper when they're around," Damon complains.
"Then why did you invite them to stay?" Blair counters with gritted teeth.
"Keep your friends close and my enemies closer," he replies.
"They're not your enemies."
"Not if they know what's good for them."
"Leave them alone and I'll try to get rid of them as quick as I can."
"I thought you were happy that Serena is back. Nate sure looks like he is. Couldn't help her with her bags fast enough."
"Nate was being a gentleman, unlike some people. And I am happy that Serena's back. It's just not good timing. Stop trying to twist everything."
She annoyed and he realizes he's going too far. Blair's little breakfast club are always a sore subject between them. He hates them, she loves them. There's always this anxious, insecure feeling he gets when they are in concern. That one day if the choice was down to between him and them, she'd pick them and he'd lose the one person who he could honestly say was on his side, for the first time.
"Alright, alright. I promise I won't touch them."
"… Well then… good," Blair states, surprised. That was a little too easy. "… I'm going to help them find their rooms now… See you at dinner?"
He nods in agreement and watches as she walks away.
Blair shows the Upper East Siders their rooms while Damon goes about doing his own thing downstairs. Serena gushes to Blair how much she misses her and how everything is going to be even better than before, while Nate remains as wooden as ever.
As usual, Chuck is the one that voices the most complaints, particularly about their new lodgings, but Blair catches him admiring the workmanship on the elaborate bed posts.
"I like a good sturdy bed," he smarms when she raises her eyebrows at him.
"No midnight visitors while you're on the premises," she warns.
"Does this mean I'm free to have visitors at other times during the evening?"
Serena chucks a pillow at him accompanied by a thoroughly disgusted "ew." Nate laughs and Blair rolls her eyes, hands on her hips. It's a familiar scenario that echoes their past dynamic. They catch each other's eyes and all smile as if they were all thinking the exact same thing. This was how things suppose to be. All that previous tension before evaporates. All the awkwardness and all the hurt doesn't sting quite as much anymore. They're Blair and Serena, Chuck and Nate. It's almost like they were back in New York and Blair breathes a silent sigh of relief that she hadn't known she was holding.
"Quit messing around. You guys finish unpacking and then come down for dinner," Blair calls over her shoulder as she descends the stairs, her steps a little lighter than before.
Happiness, however, is often short-lived.
Once Blair leaves, the remaining breakfast club returns to their respective guestrooms. Serena is busy unpacking her luggage when Nate comes in toting a small Louis Vuitton suitcase.
"I think this is yours. It must have gotten mixed with my things by accident."
A lie. Nate purposefully directed Chuck's handy driver to leave one of Serena's suitcases in his room. He needed an excuse to talk to Serena and Nate learned his pick up tricks from bad daytime soap operas.
"Oh, I was just going to look for that," Serena says with a smile. "Thank you, Nate."
"It's no problem."
"No, really. Not just for the suitcase, but for getting Chuck to bring us here. You don't know what it means to me."
"I'm just really glad you're back…" Nate pauses, unsure whether or not to go on, but he swallows and continues. "You know ever since that Shep-"
Serena realizes what he wants to talk about and stops him.
"Yes, I think that was a mistake, too! Blair's my friend and we were drunk."
"Y-Yeah… drunk."
"We shouldn't let stupid drunken mistakes mar our friendships. We've all grown up since then and you and Blair, you guys are the golden couple. So, let's just forget it ever happened. The past is the past. There's nothing going on between the two of us and you wouldn't want to hurt Blair, right?"
"No…"
"I mean you've guys have been together forever. She loves you and I know you love her. We would only hurt her if we told her. So let's just keep this our little secret. Okay?"
Serena has a talent for making others agree with her. Nate is no different from any other poor bloke wrapped around Serena's little finger. The bumbling boy merely nods his head and agrees.
"Yeah..."
"Thanks again for being so wonderful, Nate."
She kisses him chastely on the cheek, flashes him the famous Van der Woodsen smile and goes back to unpacking her bags, effectively dismissing him from conducting further conversation.
xxx
Dinner was full of awkward silences and glares being thrown across the table courtesy of one Chuck Bass and one Damon Salvatore. Serena monopolizes the conversation most of the evening, talking about boarding school and how horrible it was and how she just misses everyone so much. After dinner everyone retires to the living room where Serena challenges Stefan to a game of pool. Blair smiles indulgently and watches from the sidelines with Damon while Chuck and Nate wonders off to a corner to indulge in the Salvatore's impressive scotch collection.
Serena is drunk off appletinis within half an hour into the pool game, giggling and casually touching Stefan on the shoulders and chest. Blair rolls her eyes at her best friend's antics and just thank god that Stefan had taken Elena home earlier otherwise there would be a massive cat fight going on. She turns to look at Damon and catches him with the most amused look on his face and realizes that he was probably thinking the same thing; except he's probably more regretful than anything that Elena hadn't stayed and was probably currently reenacting the hypothetical cat fight scene (with pudding) in his head.
He turns to look at her and smiles mischievously.
"Don't look at me like that. I refuse to allow you to put me in one of your mental porn shows."
"But you'll be the main star."
Blair raises her hand to smack him, but he catches her hand halfway and lays it back on her lap.
"You're going to hurt yourself if you're going to smack me every time I say something snarky."
She narrows her eyes and bites down the juvenile urge to stick out her tongue at him. Despite the show of annoyance, she's touched at his subtle signs of concern. He hasn't taken his hand away yet and she feels it there, a cold weight on the back of her right hand. She looks up at him when ten seconds later he still hasn't removed it. Damon looks back at her and she flit her gaze over onto Nate and he gets the hint and drops his offending hand. She still feels the cold from where his hand had been and misses it almost instantly, but if anyone ever asks she'll deny, deny, deny.
Across the room, Nate gulps down his drink as he watches Serena flirt with Stefan Salvatore over yet another game of pool. Chuck is disgusted with the evening and is tired of the company of his sulky best friend. When Nate pours himself his fourth drink, Chuck pulls his glass away.
"Hey!"
"I think you've had enough."
"Since when did you join AA?" Nate sneers as he tries to swipe back his drink.
"Since when did you forget who your girlfriend is?"
Nate successfully takes back his poison of choice and begins taking large swigs of the drink instead of answering.
"Serena never should have come back," Chuck mutters.
"How can you say that? She's our friend!" Nate whispers harshly.
"Yeah? And what is Blair? Because last time I checked, she's the one you should be worried about and instead all I see you do is mope around because Serena's doing her usual thing, flirting with everything in pants which is to say everyone. Your girlfriend gets up and goes off with some guy to Mystic freaking Falls in the middle of midterms and you don't even notice."
"Since when do you care? You're the one who's always telling me to tap more asses and parading about your hookers."
"I'm Chuck Bass, it's what I do. And I knew you were never going to cheat. Not on Blair. So don't start."
"It's a little too late for a pep talk."
"What do you saying?"
"Nothing. Never mind," Nate sighs and returns to his drink, slopping expensive alcohol all over the table and not caring.
From his seat next to Blair, Damon silently eavesdrops on the two city boys' conversation from across the room.
Serena accidentally spills her drink on her dress and excuses herself, between giggles, to go clean herself off. She stumbles over a rug, but Blair's there to steady her.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, fine. You worry too much, B!"
Serena takes another step and stumbles again, this time Damon's there to hold her up.
"I'll help her find the restroom," Damon offers.
"I'll go," Stefan volunteers.
"Nah, it's your turn to shoot and I think Elena might be expecting a call soon."
Stefan is reminded belatedly of his daily evening ritual and scurries off to call his irritated girlfriend.
"Yes! Elena! She should come over and hang with us!" Serena sing-songs.
"If only…" Damon sighs.
"No funny business, Salvatore," Blair warns. "Are you sure you don't need me to come with you?" she asks Serena, gently tucking the other girl's hair back away from her face.
"I just need to wash up a little, B."
Blair nods and Serena follows after Damon.
In the expansive Salvatore bathroom Serena scrubs futilely at the stain on her silk blouse. With a sigh, she gives up and after splashing her face with some water she's ready to go back out there. As she emerges from the bathroom, she finds Damon waiting for her in the hallway outside.
"Oh, you waited for me?"
"You are my guest after all. And you're Blair's best friend which makes you VIP," he replies charmingly.
"You care about Blair a lot don't you?"
"Yes," he admits. "Yes, I do."
Somehow, Serena finds the way Damon Salvatore talks to be highly disconcerting. His words sounding awfully a lot like a threat despite the good-natured words.
"You know… Blair told me a lot about you."
"Did she? Good things I hope," Serena says sweetly.
Damon smiles back at her, a dark glint in his eye.
"Oh, just the best."
"You know, we've been best friends since like… forever. I really missed her when I was gone."
"Really? Why did you leave then?"
Pain flashes in Serena's eyes for a millisecond before she regains her angelic composure.
"Things just happen sometimes, you know?"
"Yes… things do just happen sometimes. Like say… car accidents or houses catching on fire," Damon goads.
Serena swallows nervously and fiddles with the decorative tassle on a cushion on a nearby seat.
"Yeah. Um, so do you know where Chuck and Nate is?" She tries to change the subject.
"Do you need Nate for something?"
"Well, either of them, really. I just…" Serena trails off. "I should go back to Blair and Stefan. There's still a game of pool to finish," she rambles.
Serena turns around, ready to scurry away, but Damon doesn't let her off that easily. He snatches her arm before she's out of his reach and with a violent yank pulls her back.
"Ow, you're hurting me."
"I want you to stay away from Blair," he growls.
"W-what are you talking about? She's my best friend-"
"Oh really? Is Nate one of your best friends too? Do you sleep with all your friends, Serena?"
"W-What… How?"
"Oh come on. The guy's pathetically in love with you. He's like a dog waiting to be petted or thrown some scraps from the dinner table. I mean I get it. You're a pretty girl, he's a guy. We're really quite simple creatures when you get down to it. What I don't get is your definition of best friend, seeing as Nate is Blair's boyfriend."
"It's not like that. It just happened!"
"Does the sweet victimized thing usually work for you?"
"You don't know anything. What happened with Nate… it was an accident. Things just happened."
Serena is like a broken record and Damon is sick of playing nice.
"And things like this just always happen to you don't they? Like when you got the lead in the school play back in 8th grade even though Blair wanted it and you were suppose to be helping her practice for the audition. Or how about the million of times you let Eleanor prance you around as a model for her pieces and watched from the sidelines as she criticizes every little invisible crack in Blair's perfect little mask? Truly, you guys have a wonderful history together. You're the picture perfect best friend aren't you?"
"How do you know all this?" Serena rasps.
"Blair tends to ramble when she has one too many martinis."
"I don't do any of it on purpose. I don't mean to hurt her!"
"I don't care what you mean to do. I want you to leave and not come back this time."
"I'm not leaving," Serena declares. "I don't know who you think you are, but do you really think Blair would ever pick you over me?"
When backed into a corner, the sweet girl-next-door reveals her claws and she has good aim. Damon is usually confident, but Serena has hit a little too close to home and he falters a little. Serena notices the internal flinch, and smiles a smile that he has often seen Katherine wear when she realizes she has the upper hand.
"You have feelings for Blair don't you?" she baits. When he doesn't answer she laughs. "I'm sorry to break it to you, Damon, but Blair is not the type to fall for bad boys in motorcycle jackets. Maybe she's taken a liking to you, you are easy on the eyes, but let me tell you something. Blair Waldorf does not end up with guys like you. She ends up with guys like Nate."
He could easily kill her in an instant. Plunge his hand into her chest and rip out her beating heart. He wants to, badly. If Stefan was here he would admire Damon for his restraint.
"And how is this supposed to convince me to not reveal your little indiscretion with Nate again?"
"It doesn't matter what you say to her. I've known Blair for years, and you've known her what? A month? Two? She won't believe you. Not over us." Serena states cruelly. "I love Blair. More than you ever could. You might be right about me and Nate, but I assure you. That was a mistake and I'm going to fix it now."
"History has shown that you have a tendency to repeat your mistakes."
"This time it's different."
"If you actually care about her at all, you'd leave."
Serena looks him right in the eye. "I care about her and that's why I'm not leaving. If you cared about her, then you'd know to keep your mouth shut."
She shakes off his grip on her arm and vanishes through the door in a billow of flaxen hair without another word. Damon quickly realizes that he has underestimated the blonde. Serena Van der Woodsen was a force to be reckoned with.
A/N: Dude, Serena was the most difficult character to write ever. I wanted a balance of the Serena-Blair friendship dynamic as well as Bad Serena who, while she loves Blair, is also very selfish and capable of causing a lot of chaos. I wanted a bit more Elena jealousy action happening, but the story was getting way too long and off course of the original plot. Hopefully next chapter I can get in some more tomb action. Overall, I hope you guys enjoyed this update. Thank you so much for the reviews and comments. =)