This is a gripping tale of two young lovers whose forbidden love crosses the boundaries of friendship, rivalries and social commitment. A memorable story that draws you in further, envelops you in the estranged love that stretches beyond the line that separates what is and what should be, and breaks your heart every time. It defines the feats that true love will go to - that it can go beyond desire, that it is greater than pain, that it is the epitome of happiness and sorrow...

[size="1"]Serena Van Der Woodsen is a strong girl who faces every trial in her life head on. She presents a perfect and happy image for everyone to see, but in reality she carries a sadness that she cannot seem to let go... particularly, a boy she can't seem to stop holding on to. She had feelings for Nathaniel Archibald ever since she was a little girl. It was nothing she planned upon and if given a choice, she would have chosen not to fall in love with him. But this is love we're talking about here. A serendipitous love. Unplanned. And what's worse? It's forbidden. Her feelings required great subtlety because her best friend Blair Waldorf is in a relationship with him - a relationship agreed upon and dictated by their families and their strict society. Little did she know that Nate, in turn, has always harbored a secret love for her too. But a love restricted by a responsibility he felt he is bound to honor for the good of his family. Nathaniel Archibald is the heir apparent to his family's shipping empire. A man who has everything, except his freedom.

Both were determined to become sacrificial lambs to love's altar and made themselves oblivious to their feelings for each other. But then the inevitable happened. Blair went away... and Cupid came to play. Serena was trying to drown out her heartache with alcohol and went to a bar during a wedding to open a bottle of wine. Nate was in the same wedding and offered to help her open the bottle. As Fate would have it, the bottle opened suddenly in Nate's hands and the wine spilled over his clothes. Serena, still wobby and tipsy, landed on Nate's lap. And what did Nate & Serena in that situation? Like what every other two young people secretly in love for years couldn't have helped doing... they kissed. And the kiss turned to something more.

But Blair's return was a wake up call for the both of them. They were torn between what they both wanted and what they both needed to do. Nate found himself torn between two girls, and does not know how to choose between Blair and Serena. Serena was unable to deal with Nate's indecision and finally realized that she has once again lost Nate to Blair. Grieving with the loss of Nate, Serena went to go on a self-destructive drinking and partying spree. But as if the pain and denial wasn't enough, her guilt for her best friend overwhelmed her enough to have made her leave for boarding school.

"For nobody else, gave me a thrill - with
all your faults, I love you still. It had to be you,
wonderful you, it had to be you." - Frank Sinatra

With hushed news of her brother's attempted suicide, she rushes home a year later. Nate, who was never able to move on from her, immediately came to see her. But Serena didn't want to go through the same heartache that she went through before she left New York - so she told him that she didn't come back for him and that they should just leave things to be what they are "supposed to be."

Keeping things mum wasn't so easy as Serena thought it would be. Nate took responsibility for himself and as a person to be honest to Blair. He broke up with her because he didn't want to continue lying to her and be in a relationship with someone he knew he did not entirely love. But that didn't last long because he also needed to take up the responsibility of being an obedient son. For his father's sake, he brushed aside his own happiness and tried to get back with Blair. He succeeded. He then took up the responsibility of being Blair's boyfriend and promised her that he won't ever talk to Serena again. But then this was conflicted with his responsibility as Serena's long time friend. Thus, he also tried to take up this responsibility by setting up a secret meeting with Serena... not to make out behind Blair's back, mind you, but to explain to her about the situation they're in. That he wasn't talking to Serena not because he no longer cared for her but because he was finally taking up the responsibility as Blair's boyfriend.

"Is love a tender thing? It's too rough,
too rude, too boisterous and it pricks like thorn."
- Romeo Montague

Nate and Serena's love story requires many roads to travel and many obstacles to finish. But if it's anything... their love is raw, natural and powerful. Having known each other inside and out, they've grown to love each other's strengths and flaws. Nate even kept defending her... it's as if it comes naturally... to protect her. They don't have to try or study each other. It's just so natural and is. It's passion.. not lust. They don't think... they feel. Even Dan's subconscious is hinting out to him that what Nate & Serena have is so raw and powerful. Unstudied. Having sex not for the sake of having sex.. but because they share a deep underlying passion for each other.

Although they can be rough and steamy, they can also be so delicate and intimate with each other. They have the best of both worlds. And it's breath-taking.

"I'd seen the tortured Romeo and Juliet, `This is the wrong guy,
he's going to make me miserable' romance, I wanted to see [her]
have a nice relationship with a nice guy. No. America doesn't want
to see that. America doesn't give a rat's ass about a nice
relationship with a nice guy." - Josh Whedon

In Shakespeare's works, Romeo considered himself the Moon holding out for Juliet the Sun. Fits both Nate and Serena. We might remember Nate in the books saying to himself how Serena reminds him of the sun. She also reminds him of a rainbow. Something that occurs after a heavy rain. A great symbolism to Nate's life because it could be interpreted as how after his rain (problems), comes the rainbow to remind him that all is not lost (Serena). Other character parallels to Shakespeare's works is how Romeo was a brooding rich kid as Nate is and Juliet is a carefree rich girl as Serena is. All caught in a star-crossed forbidden quite-tragic love story.

Both make each other want to be a better person. And, by being apart, they become the empty shells of their former selves. Nate continued to be a drug addict because Serena was no longer there to make him look forward to anything. And Serena became a drunkard to try to drown out the gaping hole that replaced Nate's presence. She also became a fickle person, going from one man to another, replacing them in a heartbeat to try to avoid confronting the fact that there could be no one else but Nate. It's a given fact that they complete each other. In his darkness, she is the light.

"For aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth."
- A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act I, Scene I.

Nobody wants to watch a smooth relationship. Smooth relationships are not the ones that go down in history or cross boundaries or make us believe in the power of true love. And it is certainly something that was never planned. They almost always accidentally fall in love. These are the kinds of love that lasts for a lifetime.

Right now, Nate and Serena are working out their issues separately. Nate with his parents and his friendship with both Blair and Chuck. Serena with her strive to become a better person.

So that when they do finally get together, it wouldn't much of an issue. Like, somehow, they're working to fix all the things that goes between them / hinder them from happening. Like, somehow, they're preparing themselves to become , someday, better people for each other.

Nate with Serena

Nate becomes more than a passerby in his own life when with Serena. With Blair or Chuck, he's happy to let them run the show. Even when he was with Vanessa he let her take more of the lead.

But with Serena he's most likely to take a course of action. He goes to her the minute she comes back, telling her he wants to be with her. He then seeks her out again at her hotel to tell her Blair knows and once again at the brunch. His actions crescendo at the Masquerade Ball when he finally declares himself. Finally, in the first days of summer, when Serena puts it out there and Nate doesn't hesitate at her offer and jumps at it. Nate, it seems, makes conscious decisions with Serena. He knows he wants her and that he has a good time with her. There is no confusion on his part because he literally likes all of her: the good, the bad, the happy, the sad - it doesn't matter to Nate. Nate with Serena is a different Nate- he can or is willing to do more than with anyone else. She is THE girl for him.