Simple Girl

❝ She's a simple girl. She's governed by simple pleasures. She won't ever let you meet her family, but she'll show you pictures. ♪ SERENA VAN DER WOODSEN ● TWENTY-FIVE ● ALIVE

[ageofdissonance-blog]

[lovingblakelively]

[luxuriouslively]

[pennbadgly]

Spotted at the Palace Hotel: S. and B. having a heart-to-heart.

[luxuriouslively]

Blake Lively at the ‘Age Of Adaline’ Press Conference

[roycehensley-deactivated2019071]

“I’m just hoping she finds my interest to be something she likes.” It was most certainly wrong to be so interested in something that could be so socially dangerous, but until he’d been personally victimized himself, he wouldn’t change.

[fallenserena-blog]

Giving him a strange look, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “You want her to keep watching you?”

[larmoyante]

Her voice made me drunk - deep and sun-warmed, a hint of foreign accent, Swedish singsong a generation removed. If you’d ever heard her, you knew the power of that hypnotic voice.

Janet Fitch, White Oleander (via larmoyante)

[luxuriouslively]

[henry-p-stjames]

“Well there’s that, and the fact that I don’t want to die just yet. Don’t you be planning on it either. I’m the worst at picking the right flowers. I’d end up with a bouquet of rainbow daisies to your funeral and get kicked out of it.” It was very much like Henry to turn a potentially serious situation into a light joke, mostly because he didn’t fare well in those. “Is everything alright?”

“Santa did. Christmas bonus. Got a brand new sail yacht… haven’t really gotten the chance to truly test it yet. Maybe we can do that in the summer.” Since he began working, more than half of his earnings went to his mother and his sisters’ education while the other he used for living expenses. When the bonus came, he thought it wouldn’t be too unfair to indulge himself. The mention of his father was all it took for his entire mood to shift. “I don’t know, Serena. I don’t ask about him.”

[fallenserena-blog]

At the mention of funerals, Serena’s face fell, her eyes darkening just as his had when she mentioned his father. Brushing a strand of loose blonde hair from behind her ear, she brought her hand to his shoulder, cutting off all conversation with him and desperate to return to the safety of her apartment. She had forgotten how difficult it was like to be around people like Henry, people who had once been a part of her world and theoretically still were, and yet, knew nothing of her loss and whom she couldn’t expect to understand regardless. Checking her phone, she turned to him and flashed a fleeting smile. “I’m really quite late... for... my grandmothers-- luncheon. I should be going. It was really good seeing you,” she said giving him another pat on the shoulder before spinning on her heel and not so subtly scampering in the direction she had come from.

[gentleandestructive-blog]

A Lonely Company • Thomas & Serena

[gentleandestructive-blog]

Intoxicated Serena reminded Thomas a lot of the girl he used to know all those years ago when they were still in high school. She was such a wild spirit, with a big heart who always saw the good in everyone, and for that Thomas admired her a lot. After Eric’s death, something had shut down inside her, and perhaps she had just grown up and matured, but there was no denying that Eric’s death had affected her deeply. It had affected all of them, but at least Thomas didn’t have to be in New York every single day and be reminded of his best friend constantly. On one hand he felt guilty for not stay longer after Eric’s funeral, but he simply couldn’t bear to do so. Running away had always been Thomas’ style of dealing with his problems and feelings, after all. As he followed Serena up to the VIP area, he made sure he stayed close by her the entire time, holding a hand to her waist in case she tripped. 

A smiled passed his lips when Serena kicked off her shoes carelessly; she looked so relaxed and at peace, like she didn’t have a single worry in the world. “I can sober you up in five minutes, all you gotta do is ask.” Thomas said with a grin, slapping her hand away playfully. They were both acting like little kids, but it felt somewhat nice to not be an adult for five minutes. Thomas let her rest her head on his shoulder, playing with her golden locks soothingly. When Serena interrupted their peaceful moment suddenly, Thomas looked at herin confusion, unsure where her speech was coming from. He found himself at a loss of words, what was he supposed to say? That people were most likely worried because she wasn’t behaving the way she was supposed to? That was bullshit in his opinion. 

“I–I don’t know, S.” Thomas shrugged, looking at her, his gaze full of sympathy. That was a lame response. “You shouldn’t listen to what other people say. It’s not like you ever cared what anyone else thinks anyway, right? You should live your life however you want to live it, everyone else can go fuck themselves.” Thomas said, although he couldn’t fully disagree with her friends, or with Dan who was probably worrying about her right in this very moment. They all loved Serena, they only wanted her to be okay. Being rational wasn’t the best thing for her right now, though. “I’m not your babysitter, no. I’m your friend, and I’m here tonight to make sure that you have the best time possible.” He told her with an enthusiastic smile. “And tomorrow, when you’re hungover as hell, we can go for a greasy breakfast, because that’s what friends do.” He said, before standing up from his seat and pulling Serena up with him. “I think we can dance now that you’ve ditched your heels.” Thomas grinned before taking a better hold of her hand and leading her to the center of the room. There were a lot of people dancing, and no one really cared about anyone else’s business in here. Spinning her around with his arm, Thomas chuckled before pulling her close to him, his hand resting on her waist. “You don’t need to have any worries tonight, okay? You don’t have to go back to the real worried until tomorrow.”

[fallenserena-blog]

“Yes but... there’s not really, there is absolutely no point in worrying and being sad about it now. What’s there to be sad about, this life is great!” she slurred enthusiastically as she hopped to her feet and followed his lead. Looking at him seriously before she allowed him to pull her into a spin, she put her hand squarely on his wrist. “Please promise me there will be a lot of whipped cream and fat fat fat pancakes!” Her exclamation was followed by a bubbling laugh as she leaned on Thomas when her coordination seemed to fail her, throwing her head back as her mouth opened in a wide grin when he spun her around. The room was dizzying and so were the eyes of those she knew didn’t care that she was even there. How nice it was not to care at all really. It made her wonder why she’d ever decided to change the way she was when she was a kid. Her life at boarding school, everything... it just seemed like she’d come full circle and was none the worse for the wear. Evidently. Clumsily stepping on his toes, her feet seemed to find no place to settle and yet seemed to be darting across every cubic square inch on the ground. “You’re so good to me. I don’t deserve it, really,” she said with a small smile as he spun her around, her blonde hair becoming a blurry mess... just like his face, just like the bar in the corner, just like the people.

“You know, I think about if other people are happy too. It doesn’t matter if I’m happy if everyone else is happy. I’d rather they be happy. Don’t you get it? I think you’re kinda like that too, Thomas. Are you happy?” she asked as her hand grabbed his shoulder when she nearly fell over the card table in front of the couch. “It’s really, really important that you are. Because you deserve to be happy.” Suddenly her head hurt and all she really wanted to do was lie down. Stumbling her way onto the plush cushions of the couch, she flopped onto it, her head hitting the armrest. Closing her eyes, she placed her hands around her ears. Her head really hurt and all she wanted to do was sleep. Curling up in a fetal position, she didn’t care to know what Thomas thought of her. He wouldn’t mind. With him around, she’d be already. Grabbing for his arm, weakly, her eyes were already closed when she slurred her last words.

"Can you just... can you get me some wat--”

[fallenserena-blog]

Headcanon No.1 : Profession

Though Serena still models and does socialite things such as make appearances and occasionally guest star on TV Shows, she still likes to maintain whatever sort of connections she formed while in Los Angeles. This means that while she no longer lives the relaxed LA lifestyle and she has bounced back over to New York, she still occasionally dabbles in PR when she’s needed and when friends she made in LA ask her to lend a hand or help forge connections. She’s a bit of a liaison between Hollywood in LA and Hollywood in New York. Most of the time it means exploiting her already established connections and playing assistant to the assistant of numerous celebrities ranging from Snookie to Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep and George Clooney.

[henry-p-stjames]

“That’s because it was another life. ” At least, to Henry, life before college was truly another life, his life. This, all of it, it was just borrowed, temporary. “I’m just glad I haven’t grown bald yet. That would be a true pity. But to answer your question, work. That’s what’s been keeping me busy. There’s just too much of it and I just want to take a week off and go sailing. Are you feeling nostalgic?” 

[fallenserena-blog]

Holding her fingers up in front of her blue eyes, she winced as she held them close together. “Maybe just a little bit,” she said with a small smile. “I think the reason none of us has just up and died yet was because high school served as a premature midlife crisis for most.” 

“Have you gotten a new boat? The harbor in the hamptons is always beautiful come the summer time. How is your father?”

[jackabass-blog]

“I’m insulted, S. I don’t save all the unassuming females, just the ones with enough money to give me a handsome reward. I’m thinking your life’s worth around five hundred thousand, what about you?”

“Of course I’ve been productive. I’m awake and caffeinated at this hour, aren’t I?”

[fallenserena-blog]

"If it’s $500,000 in cash, it’s all yours. Anything other than that, you can keep dreaming. Perhaps you can reflect on why you send people running in the opposite direction. Literally.”

[valenciabxss-blog]

“–The evening cannot come soon enough. I need a tall glass of red.”

[fallenserena-blog]

“Any particular thing happen today to call for a glass of red wine or are you just looking for some ambiance?”

[ame-lia-van-allen]

“The fondest-”

That depends on you dear. I’m thinking a sexy dress, a couple attractive people, party favors and a VIP room..of course I’m sure you’ll look great as well.”

[fallenserena-blog]

“Shall we venture outside the lines? Go down to Brooklyn for the night, get a little more anonymous. I’ve heard about this new club that is entirely exclusive and lesser known. It seems like just our flavor.”

[henry-p-stjames]

“Excuse you, Van der Woodsen, but I party plenty.” Not really. Not anymore. Not perhaps as much as he’d like to but then again, Henry had never been one to party all the time, or extensively. He did enjoy, however, a nice night out, a few drinks, a fun concert, a day of sailing. “Just ask Nick. Or Tripp. Besides, things can get wild when you’re wearing a tie too, but I don’t need to go into details.”

[fallenserena-blog]

Laughing, Serena patted his shoulder as she shook her head in obvious disbelief, though she wasn’t about to judge whether he liked to spend his free time drinking whiskey alone over paperwork or with a rowdy bunch of people who couldn’t tell their pants from their shirts. “It’s strange to think how far away high school really was, isn’t it? It seems like another life.”

“What’s been keeping you busy, Henry?”

[jackabass-blog]

“I just pulled you from certain death from Manhattan traffic and you haven’t even thanked me yet. I think I get to guilt you.”

[fallenserena-blog]

“And an ego stroke is the only thing that will make it better?”

“Do you just stand on the sidewalk and wait for unassuming females to fall into traffic just so you can save them or have you actually been using your time to do something productive?”