Secrets || Nate Archibald [1]

THE HANDMAIDEN'S TALE

Long ago, when European Royals grew bored with palace balls, they took a page from the peons and added some pageantry. Couture and canapés are just another Saturday Night until you add a mask, but preparing for a ball is an event in itself, which is why Queens invented handmaidens.

"So Kati mentioned something about a custom-made corset, and I hear there are wigs involved?" Serena asked cringing.
"Don't cringe at it. It sounds like fun. We haven't dressed up like since elementary school. Why did we stop again?" Alex asked.
"Because we grew up." Serena told her.
"No, because society made us grow up. This is our trip down memory lane and my inner child is squealing with joy." Alex smiled.
Serena and Blair laughed.
"It's a masquerade. You have to conceal your identity, but I do have something special planned for Nate tonight. It's a game. It's a scavenger hunt." Blair smiled.
"Ooooo." Alex smirked.
"Nate starts the night with a clue, which leads him to a lady-in-waiting, who gives him a clue to the next lady-" Blair began explaining.
"Wait. Hold on. You have ladies now?" Serena asked confused.
"If he finds me before midnight when the masks come off, he can claim his prize." Blair explained.
"And what's that?" Serena asked curiously.
Blair raised her eyebrows with a smirk.
"Seriously, you of all people are asking this?" Alex raised an eyebrow.
"Oh. Yeah, right. Sorry." Serena felt stupid for a second.
"I just figured that after everything that's happened...or hasn't happened, I should find some way to make it special." Blair smiled lovingly.
"Awww." Alex cooed.
"Well, that's really romantic, Blair. Really." Serena smiled.
After a moment passed.
"Look, um, if you don't want me to come tonight, I totally understand. I could just-" Serena began.
"What? No, I want you to come. In fact, I was hoping you would be one of my ladies." Blair told her.
"Are you sure you want me to?" Serena asked.
"Tonight is all about starting over. I trust you and him." Blair told her.
"Well, then I will be honored to serve you, my Queen," Serena jokingly bowed.
The girls laughed.
"Oh and Alex. Out of the three of us you have always been the closest to the boys, both Nate and Chuck," Blair turned to Alex.
"Well, technically I think you're closer to Nate because you two are dating." Alex told her.
"Yeah, but I can't give him the last clue now can I?" Blair raised an eyebrow.
"You want me to give him the last clue?" Alex asked surprised.
Blair nodded.
"Ok...is it weird that I'm nervous now?" Alex nervously smiled.
Blair and Serena giggled.
"Ok so it's all planned Nate I will have our special night and you two are going with Dan and Andrew right?" Blair asked.
Alex and Serena sighed and glanced at each other.
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"Andrew's been ignoring me ever since that picture of me and that girl went on gossip girl," Alex told her friends.
"Well didn't you explain it was a dare?" Blair asked.
"I tried to. He doesn't listen. He either changes the subject or cuts the call." Alex told her.
"Call him right now and don't take no for an answer." Blair told her.
"I don't know..." Alex trailed off.
"If you don't you'll end up going alone to the ball and that's just sad." Blair told her.
Serena chuckled.
"Alright fine."?Alex rolled her eyes and dialed Andrew's number.
"Hello?" Andrew answered.
"Andrew! Hey, it's me. Alex. Can we talk?" Alex asked.
"I'm kinda in the middle of something right now...maybe later?" Andrew asked as he was about to cut the phone.
"Cut the call and swear I will keep on calling you till you get so annoyed you break your phone." Alex threatened.
Blair and Serena giggled.
"What's so important that you need to talk about it now?" Andrew asked.
"I wanna explain the picture of me and that girl kissing." Alex said as she began to leave the room.
"Wait, you're not gonna talk in front of us?" Blair asked.
"Hold on a sec." Alex told Andrew.
"No." Alex said as she gave Blair a 'are you crazy' look and left.
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Alex went into another room.
"Andrew, that kiss was a dare. I was at a sleepover and the girls dared me to go make out with the girl serving drinks." Alex explained.
"So you're not gay?" Andrew asked.
"No, if I was gay why would I date you?" Alex chuckled.
"Oh, that's a relief." Andrew sighed.
Alex chuckled.
"Hang on, even if it was a dare it's still cheating. You could have said no. You cheated on me!" Andrew hissed.
This made Alex very angry.
"You wanna talk about cheating? Huh? I heard you made out with hookers that Chuck hired during the lost weekend!" Alex hissed.
"...you heard about that?" Andrew asked awkwardly.
"Yeah." Alex nodded angrily.
"Um, well...I..." Andrew didn't know what to say.
Alex rolled her eyes.
"Can we start over? Clean slate? I could take you to that party your friend Blair is throwing?" Andrew suggested.
"It's a ball." Alex corrected him.
"Ok, wanna go to a ball with me?" Andrew asked nervously.
Alex took a deep breath, calming herself down.
"Fine. But only if you wear a red mask." Alex gave him a condition.
"Deal." Andrew nodded.
"Ok, pick me up at 8." with that Alex ended the call and went back to Blair's room.
"Andrew's picking me up at 8." Alex announced with a smile.
"See what happens when you listen to Blair." Blair smirked.
Alex rolled her eyes and giggled.
She then saw Serena had a confused and hurt expression on her face while her phone was in her hand.
"What's wrong with you?" Alex asked.
"I think I need a date." Serena sighed.
Blair's mouth opened wide with shock.
"Wait, what's happening? What's wrong with Dan?" Alex asked confused.
"He's seeing another girl behind my back." Serena sighed.
"That Brooklyn ManSlut!" Alex hissed.
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Miranda Swan was sitting alone at a bar day drinking when a mysterious man in a suit with piercing blue eyes sat next to her.
"Day drinking Mira, really? I'm so disappointed. You know that doesn't mix well with you." the man shook his head.
The man turned to Miranda and was revealed to be Bart.
"Let's cut to the chase." Miranda gulped a whole glass, fished a file out of her bag and slammed it on the table.
"Why was this dropped at my doorstep. Do you realize that Alex could have seen this?!" Miranda yelled.
"Oh, I'm well aware." Bart smirked.
Miranda scoffed as Bart opened the file to reveal DNA results, proof that Alex is a Bass.
"You never bothered us before. Why now?" Miranda hissed.
"You should be grateful that I even gave you time to mourn. I was considering revealing it to Alex on Elliot's funeral but I didn't want any unnecessary drama." Bart told her.
Miranda glared at him.
"Now if you don't do as I say, I will personally hand these over to Alex and watch as she realizes that her mother lied to her for years." Bart smirked.
"You're acting like this doesn't affect you at all. Once she realizes that you abandoned her she's going to hate you more than I do." Miranda hissed.
"I'll tell her why. If I'm going to be honest with her regarding this matter. I'm going to be honest 100%." Bart told her.
"Oh, and what is the lovely reason. That you didn't want the Bass name to be tainted with a bastard child?" Miranda smirked.
"That I never wanted to confuse her. As a child she believed Elliot was her father. If I showed up at your doorstep then...well, let's just say it would have been too much for a little girl to handle. Now that Elliot is gone-" Bart began.
"Now that you killed him." Miranda corrected Bart.
Bart glared at her.
"Alex needs a strong father figure in her life. Not one of those pathetic low life you go on dates with nowadays." Bart told her.
"Strong father figure? I forget how funny you are!" Miranda laughed.
Bart glared at her.
"So what do you want in exchange for your silence?" Miranda asked.
"I need you to accompany me to Eleanor's party." Bart told her.
"What happened with you and Lily?" Miranda asked.
"How do you know about that?" Bart asked.
"I have my sources." Miranda shrugged.
"Bartender, one scotch on the rock." Bart ordered.
Once the drink came Bart gulped it all.
"We've hit a rough patch." Bart told her.
"You wanna take me to make her jealous." Miranda smirked.
"Yes." Bart sighed.
"Why not just take a hooker. You have plenty of those lying around." Miranda shrugged.
"She knows they mean nothing to me." Bart told her.
"And I do?" Miranda asked.
"I know you see me as a monster now-" Bart began.
"Only because you are." Miranda shrugged.
"-but I really loved you once." Bart finished.
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Alex's room
Alex stood in front of her mother wearing a beautiful red dress for the masquerade.
"What do you think?" Alex asked.
"Hang on." Miranda went to her room and brought back a beautiful red necklace.
"Aww thanks, mom." Alex put it on.
"Perfect, now my turn." Miranda got up and went to go change into what she planned to wear at Eleanor's party.
"What do you think?" Miranda asked as she came back.
"Hang on." Alex looked through her jewelry box and pulled out black jewelry.
"Wear these." Alex gave the jewelry to her mother.
Miranda did as told.
"You look, beautiful mom." Alex smiled.
"Thank you, so who is going with you?" Miranda asked.
"Andrew." Alex answered.
"That's still going on?" Miranda asked.
Alex nodded.
"When do I get to meet him?" Miranda asked.
"I don't know mom, meeting a parent can be a big step. I'm not sure we're ready yet." Alex told her.
"He's making you happy though right?" Miranda asked.
"Yes, mother." Alex rolled her eyes.
"Well excuse me for being a concerned parent." Miranda scoffed.
"So who are you taking?" Alex asked.
"Bart Bass." Miranda answered.
Alex was shocked by this answer.
"Oh I didn't realize you guys...were a thing," Alex said awkwardly.
"We're not. We're going as old friends." Miranda answered.
"I...never realized you guys were friends." Alex said awkwardly.
"We were. When we were young. Over the years we grew apart." Miranda told her.
"Ok..." Alex nodded slowly.
She found this very strange. She never heard mom mention that she was friends with Bart. Heck Miranda was never really fond of the Bass Family, she always told Alex to be careful around Chuck which Alex found ridiculous because Chuck was one of her best friends.
This strange behavior and change of attitude towards the Bass family made Alex wonder if there was more to the story than what her mother was telling her.
_______________________________________
After finding drugs in his dad's library Nate really needed a friend to talk. Chuck was no help and Nate tried calling Blair but her phone was turned off. He considering calling Serena but then remembered the history the two shared and didn't want to make things awkward. There was one more person Nate could talk to, someone who dealt with addiction and was always there for Nate no matter what, Alex.
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Alex was about to get ready when she heard a knock on the door. She opened and saw Nate on the other side.
"Nate, hey. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready?" Alex asked confused.
"I'm sorry to bother you. It's, um, do you have a minute?" Nate asked.
Alex gave him a worried look and stepped aside.
"Yeah, of course. Come in." Alex let him come in.
"Thanks." Nate thanked.
"No problem." Alex smiled.
_______________________________________
Once Nate explained what he found his dad's study...
"Maybe it's old. You know, leftover from the '90s or something, from some night at Limelight or The Tunnel? Our parents did way worse stuff than we do and I think they are way better liars too." Alex told Nate.
"It's not old, and it makes total sense." Nate shook his head
"What do you mean?" Alex asked.
"I think he's having some money problems." Nate sighed.
"Well, have you asked him about it?" Alex asked with a worried tone.
"Yeah. I just wish, you know, I wish he'd be honest with me. It's like he and my mom they made some secret pact to act like robots." Nate scoffed.
"Yeah, well, I don't think that pact is so secret. I think all of our parents signed it." Alex joked trying to lighten the mood.
"But I'm not a little kid anymore. He doesn't have to shut me out." Nate sighed.
Alex sighed.
"Look, take it from someone who has dealt with addiction. The only reason we turn to drugs, alcohol or any addiction is because we're really, really, scared and inside we feel really, really alone...even when we have people by our side we feel alone because those people, don't know how we feel when we...struggle." Alex's voice broke towards the end as her sight began to blur because tears were forming.
"Alex, is that really how you felt?" Nate asked shocked as he held her hand.
Alex quickly dried her eyes.
"Enough about me...this is about your dad. Don't give up ok?" Alex told him as they held hands.
Nate nodded.
They stared into each other's eyes for a good minute.