CHAPTER TWO
BRUNCH O'CLOCK
"i just wanna get high with my lover"
˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧༚

Is there really anything better than a lazy sunday? Reading the paper in bed, sipping coffee, scrambling an egg or two. Yeah, right. We Upper East Siders don't do lazy: Breakfast is brunch and it comes with champagne, a dress code and a hundred of our closest friends. . . and enemies. Chuck's dad Bart Bass is hosting the annual brunch for his foundation. Everyone is invited. Well, not everyone.

     On the Upper East Side scandals and lies are considered breakfast, leaving plenty of room for brunch. And no one does brunch quite like the wealthy elite of New York. Especially not after a night like the previous one.

˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧༚

     Front page news on Gossip girl; Serena Van Der Woodsen crashing and bailing on Blair Waldorf's party all in under ninety seconds? But not before leaving a beaten and bruised Chuck behind, her wings cast over her new Brooklyn lonely boy and little frightened Jenny Humphrey. Blair Waldorf was fuming, Chuck Bass was hungry for revenge just in time for his father's brunch, and Nate Archibald? Well, he was confused to say the least. After his encounter with the mysterious brunette, his mind had been plagued by her words.

     Amelia was huffing and puffing in Dan Humphrey's ear, deliberately attempting to annoy the buzzcut teen. They were seated next to one another, each reading their own book. The Hopper girl was bored senseless, and her favorite hobby? Annoying the crap out of her friend.

     The Hopper girl had been pleasantly suprise of the news that Dan had not only been on a date the previous night, but with Serena Van Der Woodsen of all people. It was unbelievable, really. That he had landed a date with the so called it girl the same night Amelia had attended an Upper East Side party with Jenny. Amelia had assumed this year would be plain and uneventful like all the other years she had attended the private school. In fact, she had hoped for just that. But it appeared the universe had other things in store for the brunette, and she had no choice but to obey. God how she hated having no control over her future.

     Dan's date had been suddenly been interrupted by Jenny herself, calling for help when Chuck Bass had made an attempt to add the blonde to his list of victims. Amelia had been wracked with guilt for being pissed off at Jenny for leaving her alone at the party, even more so when she realized that while she was striking a conversation with Nate Archibald, Jenny was in big trouble only a short distance from the pair. It wasn't like the blue eyed girl had any way of knowing what was going down, Dan was Jenny's speed dial which is why she had texted him instead of Amelia. But the Hopper girl still harbored guilt for not being there for her friend when she needed her the most. Which is why Amelia made up for it by bringing her and Dan a cup of hot chocolate each from their favorite cafe down the street from her apartment. Jenny had greatly appreaciated the warm beverage, but she was growing tired of both Dan and Amelia constantly asking her if she was okay.

     "Why are you being so loud." Dan groaned, giving in to his attention craving friend.

     "Oh, I'm sorry, is my complete and utter misery disrupting your peace?" Amelia fired, crossing her arms childishly over her chest.

     Dan rolled his eyes. "Yes. Turn the misery down to mute, I'm trying to read." He replied sassily.

     With one swift move, Amelia snatched the book from his hands, throwing it across the room. "The book stays my hostage until I say I'm ready to release it into your custody, got it?"

     Dan grumbled something under his breath before agreeing to the terms. "Fine, fine. Whatever can I do to make thy highness happy." The Humphrey boy spat sarcastically at the brunette next to him, pretending to curtesy in his seat.

     "I'd love to revisit the 'wave' from yesterday—"

     "Let me stop you right there. No." Dan interjected. The previous night after the rescue mission Dan and Serena had pulled, the two of them, Jenny and Amelia found themselves in a taxi headed home. Amelia was originally displeased with having to sit in the passenger seat next to the driver, but it turned out she got a first class seat to Dan crashing and burning at the end of the date. How so? Oh, he ended the night with Serena Van Der Woodsen with a. . . wave. And god was it painful to watch.

Dan didn't really want to relive the actions of last night, yet the look on his date's face when he waved kept replaying in his head. And it didn't really help him out that his sister and Amelia wouldn't stop bringing it up.

"Oh hey! Your up!" Amelia cheered as her eyes fell upon the blonde Humphrey girl.

"Are you—"

"And you're checking up on me. I'm ok, really, I'm ok." Jenny interrupted Dan before he, yet again, could check up on her. "You know, I was ok when you asked me at the party and in the cab, when we got home, before and after I brushed my teeth. Well, I just feel really. . . stupid. I mean, how could I've actually thought that Chuck Bass just wanted to talk to me?"

Amelia frowned deeply as she watched the younger girl, a sad look gracing Jenny's face.

"Because you trust people. Which is normally a good thing." Dan said, making a weak attempt as cheering his sister up.

"Yeah, except when it involes Chuck." Jenny huffed.

"Yeah, pretty much." Dan agreed.

"Brighten up, J. You're not the first and probably not the last person on this forsaken earth to be scorched by the devil himself. Not to worry, I'm sure he's already onto the next one." Amelia said, causing a small smile to fall on Jenny's lips.

"So, the real question is: How are you?" Jenny redirected the attention over to her brother, mischievously grinning at him.

A look of confusion fell on Dan. "Me? Why wouldn't I be ok?"

"You know, at the end of the night with Serena and the. . .the—" Jenny paused, making a waving gesture.

"Not you too. " Dan groaned. "Was it really that bad?" The Humphrey cringed at the memory. ""She probably thinks I hate her now. I waited my entire adolescent life for a date with this girl. You know, Serena van der Woodsen! And I decided to close the evening with a wave."

"It was a nice wave." Jenny lied.

"At the end of a date? Come on, there's no such thing." Dan stated. "And you only get one shot with a girl like Serena. I got mine and I blew it."

"Will you stop with all this enternal doom stuff? So you waved. Who cares? You make it seem like you two timed her or something. I'd say there are way worse things you could've done." Amelia reassured.

Jenny nodded. "Yes. And this all means you've got nothing to loose."

Dan snorted. "Nothing except my last shred of dignity."

Jenny and Amelia shared a look. "Oh no, I think that's gone."

"You're right. Both of you." Dan began. "You know, I'll just. . . I'll go talk to here. I'm gonna apologise for the wave, I gonna tell her how much I like her and I'm gonna ask for a second shot. . . and I'm gonna get a second shot."

"Yeah you are!"

Amelia grinned widely. "Go Dan!"

"Yeah." Dan rushed to grabs his jacket, already headed towards the door.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Jenny yelled after him. "I love the plan but uhm, you need a better outfit. . . and maybe a shower." Dan glanced down at his outfit, taking a whiff of his t shirt.

"And make sure to use that perfume I got you!" Amelia exclaimed, watching the Humphrey disappear into the bathroom.

Today would certainly be. . . eventful.

˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧

"Do I look ok?" Dan stepped into the living room, freshly showered, perfumed and with an entirely new outfit.

"Definitely second shot material." Jenny encourage, a look of approval gracing her face.

Amelia nodded in confirmation. "I could never not forgive you for a wave looking like that." Underneath the punishing sarcasm, awkwardness and the buzzcut, Dan Humphrey could be considered a catch. Of course, Amelia didn't have nor would she ever have any interest in her friend, but she definitely understood the appeal. Which is why there was no doubt in her mind that Serena would too.

"Alright then, I'm gonna go. Oh, uhm, and about what happend, you know, with Chuck. . ." Dan began, eyes locked on his sister. "If you want to talk to someone. . . not your brother, just let me know."

Amelia smiled heartwarmingly at the interaction, envious of the bond between the siblings. "Ok. Yeah, alright." Jenny said, waving dismissively as Dan began exiting the loft. "Hey, there wait! Actually, there is someone I want to talk to." The blonde exclaimed, grabbing her purse and following after him. Just as they went to leave, Rufus Humphrey entered through the front door.

"Hey, where are you guys going? I was going to make waffles." The Humphrey man stared at his two kids exciting, Amelia following after like a lost puppy.

"Uh, sorry dad." Dan apologized, throwing on his jacket.

"Yeah, can't." Jenny added.

"But I want to know everything about your date." Rufus started.

Dan exited the loft. "Later."

"And your party." Rufus added, attempting to persuade his daughter to stay back.

"When I get back?" She simply replied, leaving with Dan.

"You guys missed a really great show! And I make really good waffles!" The man exclaimed after the two leaving.

"Oh, save me some? I love your waffles." Amelia grinned. "Don't worry, Rufus, I'll make sure they stay out of trouble."

And with that, the only one left in the loft was Rufus himself.

˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧

Skipping down the street, Amelia was happier than ever. Daniel Humphrey on the other side? He was a complete and total nervous wreck. After the rush of Jenny and Amelia's convincing had washed off in the shower, he was beginning to think clearly. And those clear thoughts were screaming at him to just turn around and give it up. Who did he think he was? Dating Serena Van Der Woodsen obviously wasn't in the cards for someone like the Humphrey.

Amelia had figured that her friend would be getting cold feet right about now, which is why she decided to tag along on his 'win the girl back' mission. Amelia knew her friend good enough to know that he would be having second thoughts. He wasn't exactly the most confident guy ever. Sometimes he'd get these bursts of confidence that made him believe he could do anything in the world, reach ever one of his goals. The Hopper girl was simply there as his wing woman, over looking the situation to make sure he didn't back out and that he didn't make a complete fool of himself.

While Dan stood at the receptionists desk at the Palace Hotel, Amelia slumped down in the waiting area, chin in the palm of her hand as she let her mind wander. Last night was. . . weird, to say the least. With the whole Chuck-Jenny situation, and the wave, Amelia had managed to let her odd interaction with a certain Archibald completely slip her mind. But now that she was sitting still bored out of her mind? Well, the conversation was resurfacing in her mind, and she couldn't help but to ponder and overthink every word shared. Overthinking was typical Amelia Hopper. And apparently, brooding was Nate Archibald's typical as of late.

The mere fact that Amelia had even spoken more than two words to the golden boy of the Upper East Side boggled her mind. The girl was shy, awkward, and not in any way that could be mistaken for good. Yet for some reason she had managed to get through an entire exchange unscaved.

Nate on the other hand? He was beginning to regret the conversation, terrified that he had said something he definitely shouldn't have in his not so sober state. It wasn't like he was shit faced during the encounter, but he was definelty not sober enough to think clearly. Had he been, he would've been at Blair's arm the entire night, actually inside of the party she was hosting. Instead, the one too many beers had made him think standing in a dark alley conversing with another girl was a good idea.

Still, he just couldn't get the mysterious girl out of his mind. The way she had spoken to him? No one had ever made it so easy for him to be honest. Nate was convinced the only reason he was intrigued by the girl was the mystery surrounding it. The second he figured out who she was, he'd loose all interest. He was sure of it.

Little did he know just how close he was to solving the mystery as he stepped into the lobby of the Palace, another important task on hand. He had to make things right with Serena, which directly translated into Nate explaining to Serena why he couldn't speak to her anymore. It was way too messy for his liking, but it was a mess he had created all by himself. Well, not all by himself. . . Serena certainly lend a hand to the cause.

Nate headed into the hotel, greeting someone exiting.

"Hi, Nate, it's great to see you." Lily Van Der Woodsen, Serena's mother, greeted the boy warmly.

"Hi, Misses Van Der Woodsen. Good to see you." Nate replied, hoping the mom would send him to Serena.

"Oh, I'm just heading out." Nate accompanied Lily, the two walking through the foyer of the hotel.

"Oh, is Serena in?"

"Oh, you just missed her but I'll tell her you came by. I'm sure she will be happy to hear it." Lily replied, unknowing to the irony hiding in her words.

"I. . . I don't know about that." Nate replied humorlessly.

Lily turned to the boy with a look of suprise. "Oh, what? I mean, Serena loves you and I think she's always a little crush on you. 'Course you and Blair are the perfect couple."

Nate pressed his lips into a thin line. "Mmh, is Serena going to be long? I could just wait." He said as they arrived at the reception.

Lily gave a curt nod towards the concierge behind the reception. "Uhm, well, Dexter here can take care of you. I'm just gonna step out for a while and Nate's gonna wait for Serena." Lily informed the man.

"He can get in line behind that guy." The concierge pointed towards Dan who was sitting in a chair behind them. Amelia sat next to him with her head resting on his shoulder.

"I had a feeling you'd be back. Dan, is it?" Lily questioned, stepping closer to the boy. Dan jumped out of his seat, extending his hand for a handshake.

"Dan Humphrey, yes. It's nice to see you again, Misses van der Woodsen. I hope you had a pleasant, eh, 21 hours since I last saw you." The Humphrey awkwardly said.

Lily shifted on her feet. "Yes, it has been very pleasant. . .until now. Gentlemen." Lily gave Nate a nod, turning to leave.

"Hey." Nate said to the two, falling into a chair of his own.

"Hey." Dan replied, shifting uncomfortably in the expensive looking waiting room chair.

Nate's eyes fell on the girl next to Dan, relazation hitting him effectively immediately. The girl immediately turned in her seat, the sudden urge to hide from the boy hitting her.

God, Amelia was hoping Serena would hurry her pretty ass back as quickly as humanly possible.

˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧

Serena was absolutely not in any rush to get back to the Palace. That much was made clear after the several moments spent in excruciating silence, tension thick enough to cut with a knife.

The fact that the both of them was waiting for Serena bugged both of them. Dan couldn't help but wonder what the rich kid wanted with the Van Der Woodsen girl, and Nate couldn't help but to wonder what had gotten into Serena's head. What the hell had possessed her to go on a date with him.

Nate was finding himself attempting to make eye contact with the blue eyed girl, but Amelia was avoiding it like her life depended on it. Her life's goal was suddenly to act like last night's encounter had never happened and that she had no idea who the Archibald boy was. It wasn't like anything of actual importance had happened, but Amelia didn't want Dan knowing. Why? She wasn't sure yet. She just didn't.

"So, ah, what do you need to talk to Serena about?" Dan suddenly broke the tortured silence between the three, letting his curiosity get the better of him.

"Nothing, just in the neighborhood." He answered nonchalantly. "You?"

Dan's eyes widened as he tried thinking of a clever response. "I. . . I'm nowhere near the neighborhood but I'm working on a better excuse." He admitted, causing Nate to chuckle.

"You guys like. . ." Nate queried, eyes firmly placed on the Humphrey.

Dan shook his head. "Oh, ah, I. . . I don't know.

"Yeah, well, that's Serena. With her you'll never know." Amelia furrowed her brows at the snide remark, sensing that there was a whole lot more to his words than he was letting on.

Rounding the corner of the gate separating the hotel and the New York street; Chuck Bass. He was sporting a pair of sunglasses that were without doubt there to coonceal his new black eye gifted by Dan.

The Bass grinned at the sight of his comrade, having not spotted Dan and Amelia yet. "Nathaniel! There you are. What are you doing?" Chuck queried as he approached.

Nate awkwardly shifted on his feet. "Nothing— just waiting for you." The Archibald lied swiftly, not wanting anyone to know the real reason he was there.

Chuck's eyes fell on the Humphrey and the Hopper girl. The sight lit his rage. "You? What are you doing here?" Chuck yelled, charging at the buzzcut teen.

Dan rolled his eyes at the Bass' sense of entitlement. "Why? What is this, your hotel?" Dan spat sarcastically, not considering the possibility that it might be true.

Luckily, Nate was there to inform him "Actually, it is."

Dan looked up at the lavish hotel in bewilderment.

"Yes and unless you have a reason to be here I have to ask you to wait on the curb with the rest of the trash." Chuck spat.

Dan scoffed. "Trash? Look man, I live in Brooklyn, alright, not the Ozarks—no offense to the Ozarks. But don't you think we're taking this class warfare thing way too far?"

Chuck stalked up to the boy, shoving him directly into Amelia, causing the girl to fall flat on her ass. Nate grabbed the Bass, pulling him back.

"Are you okay?" Dan rushed to help Amelia to her feet.

"I'm fine." She grumbled, dusting of her hands on her jeans.

"Ok, man, let's just go." Nate tried pulling Chuck away, but to no avail.

"You told me stick it up for Serena's reputation, if anyone has a reason to kick his ass it's you." Chuck fired, causing confusion to cloud over Amelia. What reputation? Sure, the girl wasn't exactly a saint according to Gossip Girl, but what did any of that have to do with Nate?

"It's not worth it, mate. Not here." Nate said, finally managing to lead Chuck away for Dan, pulling him into the hotel.

But not before the enraged Bass managed to throw in a threat. "This isn't over."

Dan was quick to retort. "Hey, any time, man. That one black eys looks a little lonely." Amelia pulled Dan over to the steps of the hotel, plopping down on the concrete.

"God what a dick." Amelia huffed.

Dan nodded in agreement.

"Dan, hey."

The angelic yet calming voice that belonged to Serena Van Der Woodsen snapped Dan and Amelia's attention, the former jumping to his feet. "I, I-I was in the neighborhood. . . uhm, give or take seventy blocks. Uhm, I just wanted to tell you in person that, eh, the end of last night may not have been my finest hour. It was a, eh, a wave." Dan reenacted the wave of his nightmares.

"I. . . I saw that." Serena replied, a welcoming look on her face. The blonde had just had the worst morning ever, but Dan greeting her had just lightened it a tad bit.

"Yeah, yeah. Since then I've just been wondering. . . eh, are you hungry?" Dan asked, deciding to dive into it head first.

Much to his pleasure, Serena gave him a nod. "Yes. Actually, I had the worst morning."

"Do you. . . do you wanna talk? And eat? Not necessarily in that order." Dan rambled, causing Serena to giggle.

"Yes, I would love to do both but food first because I'm starving."

"Great, just in time for brunch." Lily walked up to the three just in time to overhear the end of the conversation, more than happy that her daughter was back from her morning errand in time of the brunch.

Serena frowned deeply. "Mom."

Dan smiled awkwardly to the woman. "Miss van der Woodsen."

Lily glanced at the boy with a fake smile. "Dan, you're still here." The blonde woman observed. "With you're. . ." Lily trailed off, waiting for the Humphrey to introduce the girl seated on the concrete steps behind him.

"This is Amelia, she's a friend." Dan introduced as the girl got to her feet.

"Look, mom, I really don't think it's a good idea for me to go to that brunch." Serena tried. The last thing she wanted right now was to go to brunch with all the people from her past, some who hated her guts and some who she hated the guts of.

"You promised." Lily stated.

Serena sighed. "Yeah, but that was before. . ." Serena trailed off, attempting to think of an excuse. "Before I knew Dan was hungry too. And-And Amelia! I can't let them starve."

"It would be inhumane." Dan added to the lie.

Amelia nodded in agreement. "Trust me, you don't want to see me hangry."

Lily sighed in irritation. "They're not invited."

"Yeah, that's why I'm going with him." Serena replied.

"Because we can't go with her." Dan added. His weak attempts at convincing the woman were failing miserably.

"And we have plans to go to brunch together today." Serena glanced at Dan.

"We had those plans."

Lily crossed her arms over her chest. "Serena, you're home: Living under my roof, my rules. What is it gonna take to get you dressed and through that door?"

The blonde glanced at the two brunettes next to her, an idea springing to life. This was not looking good.

˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧

Spotted: N and B, hot and heavy in the halls of The Palace Hotel, only to find S already waiting. Sparks were flying for sure... but will it be a three-way? Or D-day?Well, Serena's mytery man is a mystery no longer. His name is—oh, who cares. Now that he and S are over, so are his fifteen minutes.

But his sister Jenny was spotted with a new dress. . . gifted from Blair herself. Everyone knows an Eleanor original is the uniform of B's private army. But will J be a loyal soldier? Or will she side with S's rebel forces? And as for S herself: We hear she left today's brunch with... no friends, no boy and nowhere left to run.

˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧

The second Amelia had recognized the plan Serena has in store for her and Dan, she had dipped. Spending her Sunday 'morning' weaving through Upper East Siders she didn't know and had no intentions of getting to know while chomping down on bagels coated in beluga caviar? Let's just say it wasn't her dream day and leave it at that.

Besides, she figured Dan and Serena wanted to be alone with one another anyways.

Gossip Girl, which Amelia was finally beginning to read regularly, had posted all things necessary to know from the brunch. It almost made the Hopper girl feel like she was there, but she was greatful she wasn't. She had an appetite for croissants and fruits, not drama. At least not right now. And Dan was sure to fill in the blanks of the brunch later anyway.

Amelia was resting on her bed, phone pressed to her ear as she tried calling her boyfriend. She had forgotten that he was suppose to pick her up from the Kiss on the Lips party, and to say he was mildly irritated by it would be an understatement. But Devon wasn't the type to hold grudges, which was one of the many things Amelia cared about him.

"Hello?" His voice sounded groggy, husky almost, like had just woken up. Amelia's brows knitted up in confusion, her eyes falling on the clock on her wall.

"Did I wake you or something? It's almost seven pm." Amelia queried, waiting patiently for her boyfriend to reply.

"Eh, Erm, no. No. I'm just. . . I'm tired is all." He replied after a passing moment of silence. Amelia found his behavior to be odd. He was acting all dodgy, stuttering and clearing his throat every other word.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" Devon quickly replied.

Amelia flipped around into her back. "I don't know, you just sound. . . off."

"Yeah, well I was up pretty late waiting for you to text me to pick you up, so sorry if I'm not too giddy." Amelia's mouth fell agape at the aggressiveness to his words. Devon never spoke to her this way, and it was completely catching her off guard.

"Look, I'm sorry about time. I've aready explained what happened and apologized like, five times. I thought we worked this out already?" Amelia let out an exasperated sigh. The last thing she wanted right now was a fight with her boyfriend. All she wanted was to cuddle up in her arms and melt away.

"I don't really have time to speak right now. We can talk later." Devon spoke in hostility.

"Are-are you going out?"

"I'll catch you later."

With that the sound beep loudly, signaling the end of an call. Amelia stared at her phone dumbfounded, the odd conversation not settling yet.

She fell back in bed, her mind pondering over the day, her phone suddenly ringing to pull her out of her train of thought. Amelia quickly checked the caller ID, a smile spreading across her lips.

"Hey." She answered.

"Hey, I need someone to vent to, can I come over?"

"Of course you can, Dan. You're always welcome here, you know that." Amelia replied.

"I'll be there in ten."

The two friends needed each other tonight, for reason more similar than they thought. But that was the beauty of their friendship, that no matter what, they were there for each other, and they needed each other equally as much.

word count; 4649
a/n

i'm spending this Saturday writing my ass of, which is exactly how i love spending my days off ! sitting in my bed watching gossip girl whilst writing with scented candles burning in the background ? yeah, that's exactly my idea of fun, and exactly what i do to channel my inner blair or serena. anywho, super excited to keep writing this book, and i hope you guys are equally as excited to keep reading on ! so, stay tuned !

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