Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.

Author's Note: Set several years post S3 for Gossip Girl, finale for Gilmore Girls. Thank you for reading, hope you enjoy. :]

Serena stares at the hairbrush, mahogany, engraved with an elegant R. She doesn't touch it, she doesn't touch anything; she shouldn't be here.

The toilet flushes and Blair opens the door. They shouldn't be here.

"Okay, I feel better now."

"Does Nate know you have a key to his apartment?" She asks, eyes drifting slowly around bedroom. There's an entire wall dominated by a book shelf – floor to ceiling and crammed tight with more books than she's certain Nate has ever read in his life. "Does his girlfriend?" She adds on a whisper.

"He ought to," Blair huffs, adjusting the fabric of her shirt around her belly, "And what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

"We shouldn't be here."

"Hm, yes." Blair agrees, "But I had to pee. I'm pregnant, he'd have to understand."

There's more to the story of course. There's Blair not being able to wait the additional six minutes it would take to get to her own home, there's her needing to use the upstairs bathroom, only accessible by entering the master bedroom, there's her quiet if not subtle hinting in the last few months that Nate's been getting serious with this girl, there's her insistence that Serena be in the city to help her buy a baby wardrobe – even though, the yet unborn baby girl already had enough clothes to last her a full year.

"Sure…" Serena say vaguely, can't stop herself from looking around the room. The bed's made-up, neatly. There's a stack of four books on one night table, three magazines on the other; a Yale sweatshirt on an armchair and Nate's sneakers by the closet door.

"Alright then," Blair continues, moves towards the door, "Let's go then…"

There's a rush of fury inside Serena then and she turns dark eyes to Blair, "You didn't have to do this," she accuses, feels her heart thumping hard in her chest.

And Blair, to her credit, doesn't deflect, doesn't pretend to not know exactly what Serena is referring to. She stops and meets the blonde's gaze, "Just be sure," she says seriously, "Because your time is running out."

She wants to ask her, sure of what? Wants to feign ignorance and make her way of this duplex apartment Nate shares with some brunette she's never met. But the words stick in her throat.

"I'm not the one that needs to be sure," she whispers, looks down at the carpet. A soft hue of blue, looks soft and thick, perfect for walking barefoot, she thinks dully.

Blair rolls her eyes, "It's your choice," she says breezily, "It's always been your choice."

Serena lifts her gaze. "You're the one that says this girl is perfect for him."

"I said she keeps him focused."

"We're not having this conversation," Serena shakes her head, "And especially not in their house when they don't even know we're here."

Blair shrugs, moves towards the door again, "Have it your way." She walks away, heads downstairs.

And Serena stares at the bedroom through a sudden sheen of tears. It's not fair, this isn't her choice. He's been with this girl for years now and she's been… busy. She's had work and sometimes classes and traveling and the city hasn't fit into her schedule – she hasn't avoided it. She was booked solid for the entire month of May. It wasn't her fault she couldn't attend graduations, holidays were busy times too and…

She sighs roughly, rubs at her eyes hard as she whirls around towards the door. "What do you want me to do?" She shouts from the top of the stairs.

Blair's by the front door; she has a perfect view of Serena in her tan Capri shorts and dark blue top, long hair twisted back into a messy ponytail. "How many times have you talked to Nate in the last two years?"

Serena rolls her eyes, refuses to answer for a moment. Mostly because she knows it's been exactly three times.

"I think you owe yourself a conversation, S." Blair shrugs again, "That's all."

They're both quiet for a long moment then, Blair leans back against the front door and Serena fidgets with the hem of her top, before blowing out a breath and stomping down the stairs.

"So for that, you had us break into his house?" She prods as she steps on the landing.

"I had a key," Blair defends and then pushes up from the door. "Come here…" she commands.

And Serena follows the brunette into the living room.

She almost gasps, it's a mess. A complete mess of newspapers, empty plates, books, DVD's, candy wrappers, Chinese take-out cartons; there're high-heeled shoes on the floor and a bowl of red licorice on the end table.

Blair's standing in front of her suddenly, handing her a framed photograph. It's the first glimpse of this girl Serena's ever had. She's never asked anything about her, not her name or what she looks like or even if Blair likes her. She's taken the mentions of her in silence, a silent, barely-formed hope that if she knows nothing at all of her, she'd fade away.

But she hasn't. She's here, in everything about this house, and this picture of Nate back-dropped against a diner and smiling, with his arm wrapped tightly around a beaming blue-eyed, brown-haired girl.

"Small town girl, went to Yale, reads a book a week, give or take a day." Blair says quietly, "Backpacked through Europe after high school, loves old movies, eats candy by the pound."

Serena's gaze lifts from the picture.

Blair's lips quirk, "Obviously, blue eyed and dark-haired."

"Blair…" her voice is fainter than she wishes it would be.

"It's not your imagination," Blair says when Serena trails off, "If we were one girl, we'd be absurdly close to being this girl."

Her hands tight around the picture frame. "You shouldn't have done this," she whispers, the words tight, voice low.

The smirk vanishes from Blair's face and she keeps her dark eyes fixed on Serena's blue as she says seriously, "I like her, Serena. She's a nice girl. She and Nate are good together."

Serena's breath catches and Blair reaches out, takes her hand.

"But I love you, you're my sister." She squeezes her hand, "That's why I did this."

Serena swallows hard, "It's been over three years, Blair."

"And miles and guys in-between, I know." Blair nods. "So why do you still avoid him?"

"I don't.."

"What's her name?"

"What?"

"This girl Nate's been dating for almost two years. The one he's moved in with and who's family he visits every other weekend."

Heat flushes Serena's face. "I don't need to know everything that—"

"Okay then." Blair drops her hand. "If that's how you want to play this, fine."

"I'm not playing anything," Serena snaps, frustrated suddenly.

Blair rolls her eyes, "Last three years, how many times have you had the relationship talk with Baizen? With that guy you keep re-dating from Brussels? With Dan even?"

Serena recoils, "Dan and I haven't happened since college freshman year, you know that."

"That's not my point," Blair retorts, a hand touching her stomach gently.

"You don't have a point," Serena hisses.

Blair purses her lips. "Tell me you didn't seriously have to go out of your way to avoid attending my mother's Christmas party this year. The one held in Paris. While you were working there. For my mother." Blair lifts an eyebrow, "Go on, lie to my face. Again."

Serena stiffens and then she does. "I had to be in London that weekend."

"It had nothing to do with Nate attending."

"No."

Blair studies her face. "I'm sorry you're so good at this now," she whispers.

Serena averts her gaze. "I'm glad he's happy." That's not a lie. She is.

Blair doesn't move, doesn't say a word.

And after a long moment, Serena takes a deep breath, opens her mouth to repeat that they should leave—and stops herself when the lock on the door jiggles.

Serena's eyes widen and Blair glances at her watch, sighs like this is a small inconvenience and not them inside someone's house without their knowledge.

The door behind them swings open, footsteps in the hall, and then there she is – the girl in the picture, glossy dark hair pull back, bangs in her face, blue eyes sharp, bag hooked over her arm and coffee cup in her hand.

Her gaze scans them and the living room quickly, before saying, "Blair," with a smile and glancing up the steps, "Is Nate home?"

"No, I had to pee." Blair explains.

And the girl pauses while dropping her bag into an armchair, on top of a pile of blouses, looks at Blair inquiringly.

"Your housekeeping is stellar as always," Blair adds, eyes on the pile, "The closet is upstairs."

"Hmh, I couldn't decide what to wear this morning, how'd you get inside the house? Who're you with? Are you staying for dinner?" She lists, straightening and then taking a sip of her coffee, before smiling at Serena. "I'm thinking pizza or maybe Chinese or Mexican-Chinese."

Serena presses her lips together, means to say hello, to introduce herself, but finds all she can do is stare, watch this girl.

"With a key, of course," Blair answers the first question.

The girl's gaze shifts back to Blair, "A key? Nate gave you a key?" She asks skeptically.

"Gave is perhaps be an overestimation of what occurred," Blair concedes; she'd taken it from his pocket when he'd changed into running clothes at her house one day. "I really did have to pee though."

She smiles, "Of course you did." There are bright blue eyes are on Serena's face then and she watches the smile widen a fraction, "Hi, I'm Rory…"

Serena takes a quick breath and pulls up a smile, tries to match hers, "Right, yes… hi, I'm Serena," She stammers, "Sorry about—"

"I know," Rory nods, her eyes locked onto Serena's very seriously for a beat before she glances at Blair, "I've seen your pictures around," she chirps lightly. "And don't apologize I'm sure this was definitely, completely not your idea and it's not like anyone can deny Blair anything especially pregnant-Blair, which is something she's more than a little bit aware of, isn't she?"

Rory doesn't wait for an answer; she moves towards the coffee table and digs through the mess of papers, "I'd confiscate the key," she continues, dropping onto the sofa and rifling through a stack of what look like take-out menus, "But I have this feeling that isn't the only copy."

"Not even the only key to his houses I have," Blair admits with a shrug. "We're not staying." She moves closer to Serena, arms touching and Serena keeps her gaze on Rory. She's wearing a beige pants-suit with a dark pink top, high heels in the same shade of pink, a little beaded bracelet on her wrist.

She looks up from studying the menus in her hand, "You're not? There's a new Mexican-Thai food place I wanted to try." Her gaze goes to Serena, "It's supposed to be really great."

"You're not going to convert me to your penchant for strange food mixes." Blair retorts, frowning a little, "You've already ruined Nate."

Rory shakes her head. "You mean, I've opened his taste buds to new and amazing experiences," she contradicts and then leans back, on the sofa, "You know next time you decide to invade our house while we're not home the least you could do is bring food. Or make coffee. Or both." She kicks her shoes off, sets the coffee down.

"You're delusional."

"And you stole Nate's key and made a copy," she responds, takes a piece of licorice, "Not nice, Blair." She pops it into her mouth.

Blair rolls her eyes.

"Boundaries," Rory continues, smiling a little.

"We are really, very sorry," Serena offers, loops her arm through Blair's and tugs her back a step, "We shouldn't—no one wants to come home and find… just people, in their house that shouldn't—"

Rory's smile widens, "I'm just kidding. I've had worse things…." She says cryptically and then hops up from the sofa. "You're sure you won't stay?"

Serena's mouth goes dry at the question.

"We have to get going," Blair nods. "See you soon though…?"

Rory nods. "Weekend…" Her gaze drifts back to Serena, "You'll be there too?"

Serena doesn't know what she's talking about; she doesn't know anything about this girl that Blair talks to familiarly, that doesn't get mad when Blair invades her house, that orders take-out for dinner and has candy in her living room – her living room with Nate.

But with those steady blue eyes fixed on her face, she knows, "Yes," and, "I'll be there." She'll stay, if only for a little while.

.tbc.