gan to tremble。
Lord Marcus sat down next to him and pulled Nate into his arms。 ？There； there；？ he
murmured。 ？You？re all right。？
This wasn？t the pretend gay affection that Nate and his friends used to drive one another nuts。
This was the real thing： a big…brotherly hug。 Nate had never had a big brother； or any siblings for
that matter； and the hug was exactly what he needed。
？Mon p？re habite en France dans le Loire。 Il aime des autres hommes。 Il est un fag！？Blair
shrieked； and she and Serena burst into a fit of giggles。
？Qu？est…ce que vous faites； mes cheries？？Lord Marcus called out as he and Nate approached。
？We？re conversing in French。 There？s an oral part to my AP exam。 We have to talk about our
family for ten minutes；？ Blair explained。 ？Using all the tenses。？
Serena rolled her eyes。 ？That？s what you get for taking APs。？ She squinted at the two boys。 ？Hey；
are you two stoned？？
Nate grinned sheepishly。 ？Slightly。？
？You big idiot。？ Serena grabbed him and kissed him smack on the lips； bubbling over with relief
that she and Blair were talking again。
Blair was so fine with seeing Serena and Nate kiss right in front of her； she didn？t budge。 Within
seconds Lord Marcus had slipped behind her and wrapped his arms sexily around her waist？the
sort of husbandlike； proprietary gesture Blair had always dreamed about。 He winked at
Serena。 ？Did you knowSerena meansmermaid in Italian？？
？Yeah；？ Serena giggled and then flashed Blair a look that said；Where？d you findhim； anyway？
Blair returned the look with a smug smile that was a bination ofSee； I told you I had
everything andHands off； bitchface 。
Nate licked the taste of Ser