[For Blair, Chuck and Eric]
It was late when Serena came back to her room. After talking to Octavia, she couldn't bear to stay in the Compound any longer, or to be anywhere Georgina might find her. Even with Octavia trying to comfort her, the whole mess sickened her. She literally felt physically ill from it all. Somehow she'd really thought she could run from all this forever, but nothing seemed to appease Georgina. She'd told once and she'd tell again, and Serena couldn't figure out what she could have done to piss off Georgina that badly.
There was no question anymore of holding out in the face of Georgina's blackmail, of going on until she found some way to pull free. It was too late for that. Georgina was determined to ruin her and she would do it, one person at a time, and next time, Serena wouldn't be so lucky. The next person would be someone who wouldn't understand as Octavia had done, and there was only so long people could keep these things to themselves. She'd thought she was finally safe, finally free, but now, the stakes only seemed the higher. It wasn't New York. There wasn't anywhere she could run, and there was no life she could lead on her own here. Her friends were the only currency she had left.
There were only a few people left she could go to. They were the only ones she could confide in and still expect clemency, and if she told them, maybe no one else would ever have to know.
So it was late when she crept back in, and she was weary, makeup smudged and hair pulled back with messy severity. Opening the door to her room, she stepped in and closed it behind her, unsurprised to find the others there. Faced with them, though, she didn't know where to begin.
[Timed to late Saturday night.]