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[turnthebadinme]

It might not have been anything they would have done on the Upper East Side, but somehow, Serena felt like the little party they'd assembled was exactly perfect. Since they were celebrating Eric's sixteenth, she wouldn't have settled for anything less. The Winchester seemed like just the right place for a cozy, intimate gathering, small not for the

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[turnthebadinme]

Serena hadn't been the kind to organize parties at home, mostly because there had always been someone better to do it and something better to do. Putting this one together, she'd found, hadn't been nearly as difficult as their bigger affairs (although Blair usually handled the heavy details for those), but she'd paid closer attention to detail. For her brother, she wanted everything to be just right.

In a white silk Roberto Cavalli with a floral design, she fluttered around, eating pizza and talking to everyone. Once the party had started, she stopped bothering to worry at all.

[turnthebadinme]

It was a bit of a relief to see him looking brighter. Serena brightened automatically as he came over. "Hi, Roxas," she said warmly, "thank you. I'm just really glad Eric seems to agree." It just seemed more like the right kind of party for her brother.

[turnthebadinme]

It was all Serena really asked for, at least tonight. She wasn't always as good a sister as she should have been, she knew, but tonight was all about Eric. "I'm pretty sure you being here helps a lot with that."

[turnthebadinme]

It might have been a pretty common thing to say, but Serena believed he meant it sincerely and that made all the difference. Things had been hard for Eric at home and she knew she'd come back only to neglect him again, but sometimes she thought the best present he could have got was to be here, having a normal birthday with people who loved him.

"I think it's better this way," she said, glancing around, "something small, just close friends. Have you met the others yet?"

[turnthebadinme]

Serena brightened up a little. "Good," she said warmly. "It's a pretty friendly group we have here, I think, but I might be biased." She was, of course, enormously so. Blair had her sweet moments, but there was no definition in the world by which she or Chuck might have been classified as 'friendly.' Still, she didn't want Roxas to have to worry about knowing everyone or fitting in or anything.

[turnthebadinme]

Serena laughed, a noise slightly closer to a scoff, and nodded. "Yeah, well," she said, "Chuck's not usually thrilled to meet anyone, unless they've got a pair of long legs and a great rack." She rolled her eyes. He wasn't as bad as he thought he was, she was sure, but that didn't make it any less true. "Doesn't mean much."

[turnthebadinme]

"Count your blessings," Serena deadpanned, shrugging her shoulder with a tilt of her head, a small gesture that seemed to indicate her entire self. Chuck might have been her step-brother before, but that had never stopped him from coming on to her, more aggressively at times than she wanted to recall. Things were different now, enough so that it hurt to consider, ever since the news had gotten out about Bart's death. "But he's good to Eric. Hey, did you ever figure out what you're giving him?"

[turnthebadinme]

Serena shook her head, touching his arm briefly. "I'm sure he'll love it," she said earnestly. Eric was too sweet to feel any other way, she was sure. If thought had been put into it, it would be enough.