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[turnthebadinme]

Losing Beat was devastating, losing Chuck another painful reminder of the frequency with which it seemed that Serena could count on her friends vanishing. She'd seen enough people leave in her life, been walked out on without reason or explanation, and no amount of knowing this was the nature of the island made it any easier. Maybe people didn't

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[throw_it_off]

It was kind of luck that he hadn't even hit the steps of the Compound when Serena came out the front door, all but barreling through. Literally running into people always hurt, and this way he could catch her, an arm snaking around her waist, and pull her to the side instead of making a painful mess of themselves. Something was clearly wrong, and he needed to help.

"Serena, hey, whoa," he said, trying to calm her. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

[throw_it_off]

"Serena..." Nate cut himself off, the words he wanted to say getting stuck in his throat. It was hard enough, facing the possibility that they'd lost Eric, but breaking Serena's heart and making her face reality was even worse. It hurt Nate's heart and made him stop and change tactics.

"Serena," he started again, reaching out to take her shoulders and hold her gaze. "Tell me, honestly, if you feel like he's out there. If you know in your gut that Eric's not gone, that he's definitely here somewhere, tell me so now and I won't ask again. We'll go straight back to the Compound, get the IPD and a search party started, and I promise you I won't stop looking until he's found. But if you can't tell me that, Serena..." He didn't know what he'd do, he didn't want to say what they'd have to do. He just let the alternative hang there for either of them to pick up should they find the courage.