𝘎𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 // 𝘎𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘱 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘵

𝒯𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓎 𝒪𝓃𝑒

Talia woke up every morning since the gala with puffy eyes, which was now the fourth morning in a row. She had been crying every night, devastated by the news that continued to grow about her mishap in the subway, Max not showing up or calling her and her mother not being around for the holidays.

It was a disastrous time for Talia and now on top of that she was being violently awoken by Audrey and Julien who insisted she came to Hudson.

"Come on. It's a getaway. You need this" Audrey begged grabbing clothes from her closet and stuffing them into a suitcase.

"T, seriously. You need to show that you are strong, not weak in a time like-"

"-in a time like what? I'm being accused left and right by new outlets, including Aki's dad's that I have killed a man. It was self defense and I'd honestly like to not relive it by talking about it. Plus I was humiliated with Max not showing up to the gala. He's been ignoring me every since this story broke that morning. It's clear he wants nothing to with me" Talia said all mad, falling back into the pillow. She gripped the extra pillow next to her head and placed it over her head, screaming into it.

"Are you ready?" Audrey asked giving Talia a look to get out of bed and get dressed. Talia threw the covers off and walked into her massive closet before stepping out in a matching sweat outfit. She threw on shades and walked out the room following after Audrey and Julien.

"Have fun" Blair shouted from the kitchen as she worked with Dorota on finalizing her New Year's Eve party plans. Julien waved goodbye to the two as they got into the black SUV. Audrey and Aki thought it was better for Talia to ride with them than with Max, afraid of what a three hour car ride could do.

"Please just relax and have fun. This is going to be good" Audrey explained as the car pulled up to the mansion three long hours later.

"Welcome" Kenneth greeted as as the three walked in. Talia took her bag straight up to the room she always stayed in while Aki and Audrey headed to theirs.

A few hours later and the rest had arrived. Aki and Audrey despite Talia's protests forced her to come down and greet the others.

"How was the ride?" Aki asked Julien as Audrey hugged Monet and Luna. As everyone but Talia began to mingle the door opened again and in walked Obie with a special surprise guest.

"Obie. You came" Julien said sounding fakely surprised.

"Everybody, this is Grace. And I hope that I'm not making a huge mistake introducing you to her" Obie said wrapping an arm around her. Talia got up from the stair she had been sitting on and walked over to Julien whispering "guess it's you and me"

"Thank you for having me Akeno" she said so politely. Everyone began to introduce themselves.

"I'm T-" Talia began but Grace had cut her off.

"No introduction necessary. For either of you. I've been following you, Julien for years and Talia Bass, what a pleasure. Your family is so-"

"Influential" Talia responded with a mean tone.

"So what did I miss? Who are you?" Max asked making his own appearance, an hour late after arriving with Julien, Zoya and the rest of the group. He looked just as bad as Talia did, making her glad on the inside he was suffering too.

"Obie's new friend" Talia said before walking by with a grin. She headed up to her room to change into something more appealing. Seeing him suffer was the medicine she needed to feel better.

She emerged a few minutes later in dress far more nicer. As she walked down the hall she could see Zoya walking around her room stunned.

"It's crazy right?" she questioned from the doorway.

"Monogramed pillows. It's a little too much" Zoya commented back.

"It's the personal touches. Frankly I'm not in the mood for any of it this year" Talia explained sitting down on Zoya's bed.

"Oh with the whole Aki's dad thing?" Zoya stupidly asked.

"Now that you reminded me of that I guess that too. No it's more Max but don't worry, I'll have him begging to come back by the new year" Talia said before heading downstairs for lunch.

"Queen, what is this delight?" Audrey asked as Julien placed an appetizer down on the table. Grace followed after her with handmade pasta.

"Tell me there's alcohol?" Talia asked sitting across from Obie.

"Oh shot. We forgot to make the sangria" Audrey said out loud as Max walked out of the room. Hearing the sound of sangria caused him to stay.

"So how did you two meet?" Talia asked Obie and Grace. She knew the dirty work needed to be done for Julien and in her current state she couldn't care to put on a happy face.

"At Teterboro" Grace explained. Julian was quick to ask "were you going to Germany?"

"No, I ah-" Obie awkwardly answered before Grace cut him off.

"He had no idea where he was going. He was a mess. He walked into our plane thinking it was his"

"Once I sat down, I couldn't get up"

"He admitted he had no where to go. So I asked him if he could go anywhere, anywhere in the world where would it be?"

"- And I said..."

"-Two years ago. It just broke my heart because that's all we want, right?. To go back before COVID, before everything changed. So I took him to Paris. And then to Split. And then to Fez. And then to Virginia for Christmas. Taught him how to make biscuits like my Meemaw taught me"

"We played chess. She destroyed me a few times, but..."

"He submitted each time with dignity, which I found sexy"

"So you're competitive?" Monet quickly asked.

"I guess. Just a little" Grace answered.

"Grace, you had a wonderful Christmas it sounds" Talia responded looking at Max who was clearly too high to notice her glances at him.

"You had a wonderful one too. The Van Der Woodsen Gala. It was the most talked about parties. If not the talked about one" Grace commented back. Talia couldn't help but glance over at Max quickly.

"It was expect I was stood up" Talia said giving Max a look. He sighed, finally picking up on it.

"We all have issues, Talia Bass"

"I was humiliated Max, humiliated. I gave you a chance after you asked for one and that's how I'm repaid. Being stood up at one of the largest social events I was pitied at. It was hard enough going, but the thought of you coming made it that much easier" Talia cried gulping down the wine in her glass before grabbing the bottle, leaving the room quiet.

* At least that's what Talia wanted to say. She looked down at the table, before glancing at Max and then back to Grace who was looking straight at Talia for an answer.

"I'm sorry?" Talia asked. Pretending she hadn't heard a thing. Lost in her own world.

"Oh I just said, the Van Der Woodsen Gala was the most talked about party" Grace explained smiling at everyone.

"Sure was. I had a lovely conversation with Nate Archibald. Oh and I was able to get a quick chat in with Serena. Lily was a gracious host as well" Talia said before sipping the water in her glass. She placed the empty glass down looking for the butler to hopefully pour her a glass of wine when it came.

"Uh, where is that wine!" Max sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Let's play games!" Julien suggested jumping up from the table.

"Count me out" Talia said as she stood up from her seat, heading up to her room for a hot bath to detox from whatever that meal was.

* means a new added section