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[turnthebadinme]

What Serena could not shake, after her afternoon with Dan, was what he'd said early on. She could ignore his transgressions with Georgina, if only for the sake of her sanity, and the rest. But there was something he'd said; if there was one thing they ought to have learned, he'd told her, it was what secrets did to them. Georgina hadn't set out to

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[renegade_reaper]

Beat hadn't been expectin' anyone to pop in, though seein' Serena there ain't no big surprise, though it was definitely a welcome one. He had been gettin' kinda bored.

"Yo," he greeted, steppin' aside a little to open the door up for her more. "Ain't expected you to come 'round here. Come on in."

[turnthebadinme]

"Oh, well, if you didn't want to see me, I can go," Serena started with a shake of her head, going so far as to start to turn away. The pantomime didn't last beyond that, though, and she grinned over at him as she stepped inside. Leaning in, she kissed him, resting a hand against his chest. "I can go if you're busy."

[renegade_reaper]

"Yeah, real busy," he quipped, lookin' at the empty hut behind him once she pulled away to speak. He'd been jus' reading a magazine before she came in, an' it was sprawled on his bed. He turned back to her to grin. "But I'm guessin' I can put it aside for you. What's up?"

[turnthebadinme]

"Oh, yes," she said, even before he'd finished, glancing past him, "very busy, I see." Turning her head back toward him, she bounced on her heels, any previous concerns briefly forgotten. "You don't have Thanksgiving plans, do you? I know, it's a little - we're not in America and it's an American holiday, but we still have things to be thankful for and Ellie's cooking and I get a guest." She bit her lip, wide-eyed, as if she were waiting and uncertain. Her lips, however, had settled into a sure smile.

[renegade_reaper]

Beat didn't even know that was comin' up. Thanksgivin' ain't exactly a holiday he ever hadda celebrate.

"Plans? Naw," he said, lookin' thoughtful. "Ain't a dress up kinda thing, right? An' there ain't somethin' I gotta do special, right? I dunno what that holiday's like."

'Least he knew Ellie's food was pretty tight.

[turnthebadinme]

"Nothing like that," Serena assured him, waving a hand as she stepped away, strolling over to sit on the bed. There was no reason to stand around when she was stopping in for more than a minute or two. "Just come as you are, eat good food and be with friends. Or my friends, anyway, which admittedly, isn't quite the same thing, but everyone there will be friendly."

[renegade_reaper]

Beat acted like he was thinkin' 'bout it, but all she needed to say was it bein' a relaxed atmosphere for him to sell him. Headin' over to sit down next to her, he finally nodded.

"Yeah, aight. I'll show up with you," he replied. "Sounds like a good time."

[turnthebadinme]

"It will be," she promised, beaming as she reached for one of his hands. "No suits or dancing. It's so weird, though. It was Thanksgiving the day I arrived, and it hasn't even been a whole year, but here it is again already." It seemed like it should have been longer, but then, they'd only just celebrated Blair's birthday before arriving, too. If she started thinking too much about these things, though, it just got unnecessarily confusing.

[renegade_reaper]

Beat didn't know when it was he came from. Time jus' kinda stopped when he died, ended up goin' in seven day increments for that stupid Game they all hadda play. It was so messed up.

"Well, this is the one where people eat a lot, right?" he asked, hopin' he got that right. He didn't know too much 'bout the American holidays. "If that's the case, ain't soundin' like it's a bad thing you get to celebrate it again so soon."

[turnthebadinme]

Serena laughed, pulling her feet up onto the edge of the bed and hugging her knees towards her as she nodded. "It's kind of nice, if you think about it like that," she said. "Like a do-over. You get a - a clean slate on everything else here, like the name says, right? And last Thanksgiving was -" She waved a hand and sighed, shrugging. "Weird. I am using that word a lot today. But we'd barely started eating when I had to go take care of B, and by the time we got back, it was, like, crazy. Which is why we left, and that's how we got here instead."

[renegade_reaper]

Beat wouldn't have minded the do over, if it meant Rhyme coulda had one too. He kept hopin' she'd pop up, but he as startin' to doubt that was gonna happen. Maybe he'd messed up too much for that.

"Well, hopefully this dinner'll be better than the last," he replied, purposely not mentionin' he came from a weird place, too. That kinda statement could lead to a whole lot of explainin' he'd have to do, an' it wasn't a particular topic he liked talkin' 'bout.

[turnthebadinme]

"Oh, it has to be," Serena said lightly, flopping back onto the bed. Reaching up to tangle her fingers in the necklace she wore, she looked up at the ceiling. This year would be better. This year, they'd all get it right. Blair wouldn't be left alone. Serena would let that happen again, not when she'd failed her before. It might have been easy enough to blame Eleanor for all of that, but Serena knew it wouldn't have happened if she'd been there. That had been her mistake and Blair was the one who'd suffered for it yet again. Things were different now, though. She'd made them different

[renegade_reaper]

It was a good question. Beat'd never really thought 'bout it. He knew he still beat himself up 'bout what went down back home, even if for all anyone knew, he was jus' a normal guy.

"Dunno if it don't matter anymore," he said, carefully choosin' his words. "'Cause even if you're here, everythin' that's happened before still happened. You can try to make up for things here, though - do stuff different an' all if you gotta. 'Least, that's how I see this place."

He couldn't help Rhyme here, but he could change himself enough so he ain't the person that got them both in the situation in the first place. It wasn't much, but it was somethin'.

[turnthebadinme]

In that way, she guessed, it wasn't much different from home. She couldn't really erase any of it, but she could keep trying harder, just as she'd been doing. Picking at the bedsheet, she brought her chin to rest against her shoulder, looking up at him. It had all still happened, but she couldn't yet decide what that meant. She'd been avoiding thinking of that for months now.

There was a precision to what he said that she didn't miss, not even wrapped up in herself as she was then, and not for the first time, she wondered just what he had left behind. With all she left out, it hadn't seemed right to press before. Maybe it still wasn't. "I've been thinking about it," she said. "If it's right to hold something against someone that they did at home in the future when I might not ever see that future. Or what you'd think if you knew what I used to be like." She smiled, more teasing than anything else.

[renegade_reaper]

Beat wasn't real sure what brought what she was talkin' 'bout on, but what she said did get his attention, an' he shifted so he was facin' her. He hadn't much thought 'bout things that went down back home for her.

"Why would I think any different 'bout you?" he asked, 'fore he thought the question through. He didn't know how he couldn't ask, though, way she worded it.

[turnthebadinme]

She didn't answer at first, looking back at him as she took a moment to really consider that. It had, in retrospect, all been a series of mistakes. It was possible that bringing up her past was just another of those. "Maybe you wouldn't," she said, shrugging, looking down. What had she done anyway? Nothing, it turned out, though Georgina had worked hard to make her think otherwise. It had all been such a long time ago. She was different now. It was stupid to talk about it.

Shifting her position so she lay on her side, she propped her head up on her hand and smiled wryly. "I wasn't very good, is all," she said. Everyone did things they regretted. "It doesn't matter. Like you said, I'm doing things different, and that's what counts, isn't it?" Though she was trying hard for nonchalant, it was difficult to keep from looking faintly hopeful as she bit her lip and looked up. Maybe he wouldn't think of her differently, but there was no reason to find out.