He thanks Nate profusely for being such a sweetheart, and Vanessa makes mean faces. "Is there a reason you insist on looking so desperate and needy?" And, as if to make her less of an asshole by being more of an asshole himself, Dan explains to Nate as though Vanessa's not sitting there that she's been horrible since birth: "Venomous without provocation." She replies immediately that she'd rather be venomous than a charity case, and Dan and Nate consider her like a science project: "She's rude, too." Nate's distracted by her for a moment, and then takes off. He's so cool. Dan sits down, like, "What? That was totally nice, and it will help!" Vanessa broods, but then notices a handwritten essay on spiral paper, sticking out of one of the books, and because she's Vanessa, she snatches that bitch immediately and starts reading.

Now it's nighttime! Serena wonders if a bar is really the best place to chat, and Georgina reminds her that, as she well knows, "Nothing gets me talking like a Cosmo." Every time either of them exposit that they know each other inside and out, drink. Two guys toast them from across the bar, and G's feeling it, but Serena explains that a lot has changed since they were together. "I know. I get it." Serena explains that this is untrue, because if she did understand New Serena, she wouldn't have sent all that illegal, trouble-causing shit last week. "Oh, come on, sweetie. Those were funny. Get over yourself, I was just trying to make you laugh. How about this? How about for one night, we hang out like old times -- but unlike old times, I won't get out of control. Unless you want me to, I mean, I can totally..." Serena laughs in spite of herself. "No, okay. I won't get out of control, and I totally respect that. Please, stop me any time you feel like answering. Any time. Come on." Serena laughs aloud, for real, and is adorable. "One drink. But only one." Serena's smile, and the way she stirs her drink, says that she thinks she can do this: balance New Serena and the kindness that G needs right now; that she can stick her pinkie toe in the pool without getting wet. That this is a test, of her best qualities and not her worst, and that she's capable of doing it. Georgina's smile says it's bliss, but her eyes say something else, and they toast.