[February 15th, the Catscratch Club]

[turnthebadinme]

Spotted: Nate Archibald, birthday boy extraordinaire. When in doubt, it's been said, turn to the local strip club. It may not exactly be tea and cupcakes or dinner at Socialista, but with the alcohol flowing and friends around, who cares? I'm sorry, was that sappy? Call me nostalgic, but put these Upper East Siders in a club and I just know all my

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[throw_it_off]

It was his birthday! Well, was his birthday, since it had actually happened a couple of days ago, but Nate couldn't complain. Not when he had new friends gathered around who wanted to be there just to be there, not to grace the society pages or get caught by Gossip Girl. There were no presents -- not that Nate could see -- and no extravagance. Just food and drinks, music and people, and maybe a dance for the birthday boy if he was lucky.

[forhawkeye]

"Oh, I will," I assure him, eyebrows lifting as I take in his little show of embarrassment. Now I'm really curious, and my eyes narrow as I continue to play with my straw. "But I thought I'd, ah, save it for a special occasion."

[throw_it_off]

"Valentine's Day isn't special enough?" he asked, the shame forgotten now. He had gotten the wine for free after all, nothing to be ashamed about. But Kate didn't need to know that yet. "Have anything in mind?"

[forhawkeye]

"Valentine's Day is for chocolate and cards from Hallmark," I tell him with a knowing sort of air. "And no, I don't. Do you have any suggestions?"

[throw_it_off]

"Maybe an anniversary?" he suggested after giving it a second or two of thought. "How long have you been on the island?"

[forhawkeye]

"About a month," I say with a laugh. "Then again, I suppose wine does get better with age."

[throw_it_off]

It was weird. Most people probably didn't want to hang around on this island for too long, but Nate was enjoying it, and almost hoped Kate would hang around for a while too. But that was rude to say, wasn't it? Depending on how Kate felt.

"Or you could just drink it and demand I get you more later."

[forhawkeye]

"And make you my own personal wine runner?" I say, arching an eyebrow. "Well, in that case, I think you should at least have some of it with me. I mean, if you're going to sell yourself to the club and all, you'll need a good drink."

A faint flush creeps along my cheeks. Biting on my lower lip, I flash him a small smile before I set down my glass on a nearby table. "Say, you wanna dance or something?"

[throw_it_off]

Now would have been a good time to mention that he hadn't gotten the wine from the club, but the offer of a dance was way better than revealing that secret.

He grinned softly and set aside his own glass, never taking his eyes off her as he offered her a hand. "I'd love to."

[forhawkeye]

Okay, Kate, breathe. He's just a guy -- a normal guy. A normal guy from the UES. I've fought aliens, for crying out loud. Aliens and I didn't feel this nervous. If Eli taught me anything, I'm just really not good at this whole guy thing. I eye Nate's hand for a second before I take it in my own.

"Consider this your present," I joke.

[throw_it_off]

His eyebrows arched slightly, playfully, and as he moved towards the dance area, he pulled her closer. "Then I have to make sure to enjoy this," he said.

[forhawkeye]

I slide my arms around his neck, my fingers intertwining. He's a lot taller than I am, but my heels make up for some of the height difference.

"Yeah?" I say, looking up at him. My stomach is suddenly filled with butterflies and I again force myself to remember aliens and Kang the Conqueror. "Anything I can do to make sure this is, ah, time well-spent?"

[throw_it_off]

Nate grinned down at her and shook his head, his arms encircling her waist. Lightly. No reason to push anything. "Just be yourself," he said. "That's the gift, isn't it?"

[forhawkeye]

"Be myself," I say wryly. "Right." It helps, almost, that he sounds like one of those feel good self-esteem stories right now. I take a deep breath, suppressing a nervous sort of laugh.

Seriously, alien invasions are less nerve-wracking than this.

[turnthebadinme]

"So," Serena said, whirling up to him with a big grin on her face, hand automatically moving to his arm, "on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate this party? I'm doing a survey." There was no such survey and she wasn't even sure why she'd said it, but it didn't matter. She was having fun and she was willing to bet he was, too. It was all that counted.

[throw_it_off]

Nate laughed softly but played along. It was always more fun with Serena if you were along for the ride instead of just watching.

"Well I was gonna say 9. But this personal attention brings it up to 10. You remain the hostess with the mostest," he laughed.