Written on April 30, 2008 after Desperately Seeking Serena aired.

Chapter One

Saturday was one of the worst days of Serena van der Woodsen's life since she had returned from boarding school. It was one of the worst for many reasons.

She woke up not knowing where she was, how she got there, or what she had done the previous night. She was too late for the SAT, one of the most important tests for her future. She was forced to ask Chuck for help, once again. And the worst reason of all…

She had to shut Dan out. Dan already knew she was lying to him, keeping something from him. His coming to visit her at Chuck's suite was the icing on the cake from hell. But she had to make her excuses. She had to do it.

Because the thought of him knowing the truth was enough to make her take the next flight to Antarctica—even France, her best friend's choice, wasn't sanctuary enough.

Serena was hoping that Georgina would take her words to heart and just leave her alone. What did Georgina have to gain by coming around again? She knew that Serena wasn't interested in partying and that's what Georgie wanted to do.

It made sense to Serena anyway.

But she was wrong.

Very wrong.

A week went by and things were not looking good on the Serena and Dan home front.

She knew that keeping the truth from Dan would upset him, and he had this sixth sense that just knew that no matter what she said, she wasn't telling him the full truth. She had lied to him—a migraine, food poisoning, missing the SATs—and he was losing his trust in her.

The pressure was starting to suffocate her. She was afraid that she was going to lose everything she'd worked so hard to re-build in the past year.

And little forget-me-nots from Georgina weren't making life any easier. Thus far she'd only received little notes and a few video messages on her phone. It was mainly Georgie talking about some wild party she should join in on. She had to leave the video messages and texts because Serena hadn't answered one phone call since her last visit to tell G in no uncertain terms that she wasn't to contact her again.

Serena was hoping that Georgina might back off.

Then she got the call.

"Serena, I see Georgina's back in town and up to some of her old tricks."

"Wha… um, really?" she stuttered into her phone. "How do you know?"

"You didn't know?" Nate asked. "Weird, I just thought you'd know…"

"How would I know?" Serena said quickly. "She's been MIA for the past year. I haven't even spoken to her on the phone."

"Well, yeah… but I was out with a friend when I ran into her. She seemed surprised to see me too," Nate said. "I just assumed you knew."

"You were wrong," Serena said. Her mind raced for something else to talk about. She didn't want to continue this conversation with Nate. In fact, she didn't want to talk to him anymore. Maybe if she brought up the subject of Blair, he'd get off the phone fast.

That's exactly what she intended to do until he dropped a bomb.

"Then why was she with Dan when me and Vanessa met up with him?" Nate asked, perplexed.

"W-w-what?" Serena said softly, trying not to say the word too loudly. She was trying to hide the shock and panic flooding her.

"She was even playing one of those games you two used to play where she was pretending to be someone else. Sarah, I believe it was?" Nate said, laughing. "I think she made Vanessa a little uncomfortable though. I said 'hey Georgie' and Dan said something about Georgie being the name of her dog. She just laughed it off, her usual self. Vanessa wanted to split soon after though, but it was still wild running into her. I assumed you were going to meet up with them and already knew she was back—which is why I'm calling."

He paused. "I wonder why she was with Dan then. Small world." He said it as if Dan and Georgina had really just ran into each other and were new acquaintances.

"Nate, I really have to go," Serena said. She had to call Dan, but what would she say to him? Oh God, she thought, I don't know what to do!

"Um, alright," Nate sputtered.

Serena didn't wait for a 'goodbye'; she hung up her cell phone and began pacing.

Why was Dan hanging out with Georgina? Sure, he was allowed to have his own friends, but what was going on? What new game was Georgina trying to pull? And she couldn't tell Dan not to hang out with her because then she'd have to tell Dan who Georgina was which would open a whole other can of worms.

She was upset and it was showing. She sat down, trying to calm her nerves…

Because probably being at Blair's was not the best place for this to come out.

"What's wrong, S?" Blair asked as she came back into the room. "You seem upset about something."

Serena cursed her unlucky stars. Blair was usually so self-involved in her latest plot that she didn't always notice when someone else was going through something big. Trust Blair Waldorf to choose this instant to show that she really did care about her. Then she felt bad because she knew Blair loved her as much as she loved Blair. She shouldn't be thinking such disparaging things about her. She just really didn't want to have this discussion with her.

"Nothing," Serena said, taking a deep breath and trying to get a hold of her self.

"Why don't I believe that?" Blair asked, shaking her head.

"I really should go, B," Serena said, standing up quickly.

"Go? You just got here," Blair said. "What's really going on? What aren't you telling me?"

"I have to get home," Serena said jerkily. "That was my mom. She said something about dinner."

"Your mom? On a Friday night? Nice try Serena," Blair said knowingly. "Come on, I'm your best friend. You can tell me anything." She was really getting worried. She hadn't seen Serena looking quite this scared and pale in a very long time. What was going on? They were just supposed to hang out this evening, girls' night in… or out, depending on what they decided.

Serena didn't want to answer. She felt really bad about lying to Blair. She had promised herself she wouldn't do that again, but there were some things she could never tell her—no matter what.

"I'm not going to let you leave without telling me something," Blair said. "You might as well spill." Her interest was very piqued and she was going into commander mode. She wanted to know something and she wasn't going to quit until the information was given.

Serena knew that she could just walk out of here without saying a word.

But she also knew that things would get weird with Blair then. She was already so tired of having to lie to Dan. She was tired of having to avoid Chuck because he kept doggin' her every move for the truth too. If she hadn't even told Blair, what made Chuck think she was going to tell him?

She didn't want anyone to know… and she wasn't going to speak a word. But she could at least give Blair something so that Serena didn't walk out of this room right now and have Blair trust her a little less too.

"Georgina is back," Serena finally said.

A look of disgust spread over Blair's face. "How… lovely," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "But I still don't see… oh, you think she's going to persuade you to dive back into the world of alcohol and partying?"

Blair had always hated Georgina. She was even a little jealous of the girl. Not of the partying and wild behavior—Blair never wanted to be like that, or she would have had the perfect opportunity to give in when her reputation was destroyed—but of her relationship with Serena. Before, when Serena wasn't with Blair, she was almost always with Georgina or some guy.

Blair always had to rescue Serena from scrapes she got into with Georgina, and she always wondered if she fully got the entire picture of those little "fun times" or if she was only getting the dish on what Serena wanted her to know… or could remember.

Serena managed to give Blair a small nod. It was the best she could do. That was only part of the reason—but it was all she could give Blair just now.

"Don't worry, S," Blair said reassuringly. "You've been doing so well. You haven't been doing any of those old things at all. I've been so proud of you. Just don't go near Georgina if you're worried."

"Me staying away from Georgina isn't what I'm worried about," Serena said. "It's her staying away from me."

"Just ignore her and maybe she'll go away?" Blair said hopefully.

"She keeps calling and texting me, wanting to party," Serena said. She thought the same thing as Blair at first but she already knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Don't go," Blair said simply, shrugging her shoulders.

Serena sighed. She couldn't make Blair understand without mentioning the latest development with Dan, which would make Blair ask why she didn't just tell Dan about Georgina… which would then lead to the secret Serena was trying to keep.

"It's not that simple," Serena said.

"Yes, it is," Blair said. She walked over to Serena and put an arm around her shoulders, smiling. "Chill out Serena, everything will be fine. You're not the same girl you were last year. Everyone knows it. It's only a matter of time before Georgina does too."

Serena forced a smile and tried to nod. It didn't come out very convincing…

Mainly because Georgina already knew that Serena had changed and she wasn't happy about it, not at all.

Serena couldn't help but feel a sickness spreading through her stomach at the thought that Dan might only be the beginning…

To be continued…