Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 1:

The redhead leaned against the mirror inside the elevator of the New York Palace Hotel, where she had a suite for the past two months, since she had moved out from her previous home.

/RingRing/ the girl began digging into her handbag for her cellphone/RingRing/RingRing/RingRi-

"Hello?!" she answered quickly forgetting to look at the Caller I.D in her rush, only to roll her eyes fondly as her best friend, Blair Waldorf demanded to know where she was and why she was running late.

"I just finished with my attorney B, give me twenty minutes and I'll be there, okay, uhuh, bu-bye."

The redhead groaned as she took out her hotel keycard and swiped, entering her suite and taking no time in getting dressed before Blair would be able to call her again and bite her head off.

It's not that Monique forgot about the gathering at the Waldorf's, she just wasn't able to cancel her meeting with Mr. Andrews, her attorney and so she was running a tiny bit late.

Monique Montgomery. That was the redhead's name. And she so happened to be one of the most well-known and glamorous teenager from the Upper East Side since she had been making a name for herself and a lot of money ever since she was thirteen years old and did her first photo shoot, climbing up the social ladder and becoming one of the highest top ranked models.

Ten minutes later, Monique changed into a semi-formal halter-necked summer dress, pairing them off with her favorite black Louboutin heels, and then refreshed her makeup.

Looking at her reflection, she smiled as she found herself acceptable since she was forced to get dressed and freshened up in a hurry.

Her white dress was tight along the bustier before flowing loosely until right below her thighs, showing the sharp contrast with her golden skin; her hands were toned and slightly muscled, along with her legs; there was a generous amount of cleavage showing and a diamond necklace sat elegantly on her slender neck.

Monique double checked her makeup for any smudges before she left.

Her doe-like violet eyes were surrounded by thick, black lashes and a small line of black eyeliner; her pouty petal-shaped red lips were colored a pearl pink casting a shiny glow against her golden face. Monique didn't bother with any blush, deciding to keep her face natural, and she tied her thick and silky red-blood hair into a high ponytail, her hair reaching to her mid-back.

Smiling at her reflection, she caught sight of the dimples that appeared on both sides of her face and she winked; yup, she was ready to get to the Waldorf's.

**MM**

Monique finally reached the Waldorf's, and just as she was about to get a flute of champagne or a glass of wine, she was pulled aside by her frantic best friend.

"Oh come on B, I'm not that late," she smirked, her eyes travelling around the room as she began searching for a specific person.

"Do you ever look at your phone?" Blair demanded, and she didn't even bother waiting for an answer as she shoved her phone into Monique's hand and yelled, "Look at what Gossip Girl posted! Look!"

Sighing, Monique gave her full attention to whatever it was in the Gossip Girl blast that disturbed her best friend so much, and as she looked down at the blast her eyes widened in shock;

'Spotted at Grand Central, bags in hand: Serena van der Woodsen.

Was it only a year ago our It-Girl mysteriously disappeared for quote 'boarding school'?

And just suddenly she's back. Don't believe me? See for yourselves'

And right there, was a picture of Serena, blonde hair and all.

Yup, S is definitely back.

"Look B, i don't know why you're getting so worked up about it … you should just take a leaf out of my book," Monique smirked; Blair looped her arm through Monique's as they made their way over to Chuck Bass, who was sitting on the couch with Isabel and Katy.

"Uhuh, and pray tell what are you going to do," Blair raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm just going to ignore the bitch," Monique shrugged casually, an evil grin playing on her lips. Blair's eyes lit up, her grin mirroring Monique's.

"You know Mon, you're scary. Remind me never to get on your bad side," Chuck chuckled slightly as he took a long gulp of whiskey.

"Hmmm, no promises," Monique winked at him.

Blair eyed her boyfriend Nathaniel Archibald, who was across the room with his father, 'The Captain.' Before she could excuse herself, Monique beat her to it as she smacked her ass and said, "Go get him tiger."

"How-how did you know?" Blair gaped.

Rolling her eyes, Monique waved a hand nonchalantly, "Oh please B, we've been best friends for ages. I know you. Now go!"

"You look really hot by the way," Chuck smirked at Monique his eyes taking in her face, freezing at her breasts for a while before roaming down slowly to her heels.

"Flattery gets you everywhere," she winked, "Now dear Chuck, what's this I hear about you wanting to smoke a joint?"

"My god," Katy gasped, "You'll never believe what's on 'Gossip Girl.'"

"Someone saw Serena get off a train at Grand Central," Isabel shrieked.

Monique threw the two girls a dirty look, "Keep it together you two and stop acting like fan girls, will you? And why may I ask are you chuckling?" she demanded as she whirled around to face Chuck Bass.

Shrugging, Chuck said, "Things were getting a little … dull around here."

"Gee thanks chuck," she said dryly, narrowing her eyes at him. Chuck looked slightly guilty, but as he went to grab her hand and apologize, Monique snapped her hand back and left him alone, muttering to himself about hormonal girls.

Monique hated the fact that Chuck was excited with Serena's arrival – just because S was one of her best friends, it didn't mean she gets a free pass for just ditching her and Blair without a word for a whole freaking year!

"Blair, its Serena!" Monique heard Eleanor Waldorf – Blair's mother, shout out.

Monique narrowed her eyes as she watched Serena drift off to her mother, Lily van der Woodsen; if she thinks that she could just waltz back in here like nothing happened, then she is sorely mistaken.

She looked up to see Blair blocking Nate from Serena's view.

"Hi Serena, so good to see you," said Blair in a phony voice.

"Good to see you too, where is Monique?" she asked, her head looking at all corners of the house. Blair merely pointed downwards. Serena looked down and waved, but all Monique did was throw her a piercing glare and continue walking.

Suddenly Monique's head snapped to the side – she could have sworn that she saw a flash of red, red that looked exactly like her hair color – which meant that her mother and most probably her step-father was here.

Gasping, Monique spotted the two of them laughing and drinking wine. Slowly, Alan turned his face slightly and they share eye-contact; ice blue eyes connected with pure violet and Monique hastily turned away, grabbed a large bottle of red wine and ran off into a secluded balcony. Once she saw that she was alone, she drained the whole bottle dry in five minutes – Monique drank alcohol like fish drinks water.

Hiding the empty bottle, Monique re-entered the room just as Blair noticed her and ran over.

"Serena just left – and get this, she said, see you at school tomorrow!" Blair hissed.

"Huh, school … so I guess she's back for good," said Monique, her eyes narrowing in anger, reaching her hand out to pick up a flute of champagne, moaning slightly at the rich taste.

"Didn't you know she was coming?" Katy blurted out – causing Chuck and Isabel; both of whom hadn't moved since she left them, to stare at her and Blair.

"Does it look to you that we care that Serena is back? No! So how about you keep your nose out of this sweetheart," Monique smiled mockingly – unlike B, Monique didn't give two shits about the whole Queen B thing, she acted like herself which was a good thing as she was a buffer of sorts and no one would ever think twice of messing around with her or her friends as she could be scary as hell.

Katy flinched before running away towards the alcohol fountain.

"You're so bad M," Blair giggled.

Monique smirked back, bumping her shoulder with Blair's; just as she was opening her mouth to ask how things went with Nate, a large hand reached out for her wrist.

"Chuck, Blair how are you two?" Alan asked in his most charming voice that managed to fool many – except her. Not even waiting for a response, he continued, "You don't mind if I steal Monique for a while, do you? Excellent!" he smiled flashing his pearly teeth, dragging Monique to the other side of the room.

"Bastard! I didn't say he could," hissed Blair, her eyes searching frantically for M.

"So her stepfather wants to talk with her, big deal," Chuck droned on, gulping the last of his whiskey, "I'm going for a refill."

**MM**

"Ah, finally, there you are Jack," Chuck smirked, grabbing a bottle of Jack Daniels and pouring himself a hearty amount.

Chuck began checking out each and every girl within eyesight, he needed entertainment for the night, and he was in desperate need for a release.

Bingo! He inwardly smirked as he observed a cute little blonde with brown eyes stare at him flirtingly before giggling with her friends. If he played his cards right, then he might be able to add one of her giggling friends to the deck.

Just as Chuck was about to approach the blonde and flash her his charm, he heard the sound of two people arguing – usually he would ignore it, it was the Upper East Side after all, and there was always some drama; but the sound of Monique's familiar voice made him hesitate and hide around a corner.

Chuck saw Alan Williamson, Monique's stepfather back her into a wall, his hands grasped tightly on both sides of her waist. Looking at Monique, he noticed that she was glaring at him with a blank look on her face.

"Do you even realize what you do to me, Monique?" he moaned into her ear, and Chuck shivered in disgust – he didn't want to watch his best friend fuck her stepfather, it was too weird and plain disgusting.

Chuck was about to go back and look for the blonde when Monique spoke back in a rage-filled voice, "I won't tell you again Alan! Get. Your. Fucking. Filthy. Hands. OFF. ME!"

"No! Damnit Monique, I want you!" he snarled.

Monique had had enough, and just as Chuck was about to interfere, he saw Monique knee Alan in his groin making Chuck wince and grab his balls instinctively – yup, never piss Monique off.

Alan whimpered pitifully as he slid down the floor, grabbing his shoulders and slamming him hard onto the wall, Monique spat out, "I thought that filing for an emancipation was enough … it seems I need a restraining order against you!"

Throwing him back down on the floor in disgust, Monique made her way out, but as she neared Chuck's hiding spot, they both heard Alan groan out, loud enough for them to hear, "Over my dead body Monique, you can't escape me! I'm one of the best lawyers, I'll win the case and you'll be stuck with me for a long, long time! You are MINE!"

**MM**

Chuck sat in the bus with his best friend Nate; they were on their way to school and talking about the gathering at the Waldorf's the other day.

Suddenly, Chuck blurted out, "Monique looked effing hot last night. There's something wrong with that level of perfection … it needs to be violated."

Nate looks at Chuck, half-shocked and half-disgusted, "You are deeply disturbed you know that? What's wrong with you man, Mon's been our best friend since kindergarten."

Chuck chuckled, "And yet, you know that I'm right," turning to face Nate, he said, "You're telling me if you had the chance …"

"I have a girlfriend," Nate shot back, "I don't even see Mon that way … I mean yeah I will admit, she is gorgeous, but it would be like having sex with my sister," he crinkled his nose in disgust at the end.

"Whatever Serena then," Nate went to protest but Chuck continued speaking, raising his voice slightly, "You guys have been dating since kindergarten and you haven't sealed the deal."

Bewildered, Nate said, "Who says 'seal the deal'?"

Laughing, Chuck said, "Monique." They both laughed, and Chuck signaled that they arrived at the school, "Come on."

Turning around slightly, Chuck notices a lanky guy dressed in riffraff clothes that he supposed were meant to be the school uniform was standing right behind them.

"You following us or something?" he accused, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"No, I … I go to your school. Identical uniforms, that's kind if a tip-off?" the boy stuttered slightly.

"That's funny," Nate stated and Chuck rolled his eyes as he heard the guy shout out after them if they wanted to sit together at lunch, and muttering to himself that the guy has problems.

**MM**

Monique, Blair, Isabel and Katy were sitting on the steps of the school, looking at the invitations some blonde chick handed over to them.

"So cute! They should be framed or something," Katy squealed.

After a few moments of silent, Blair said, "Not bad work. And here is yours … as promised."

The blonde chick squealed with joy as Blair gave her an invitation to the Kiss on the Lips party that was being held that night.

Monique rolled her eyes, for some reason she didn't like or trust Blondie, and she was in no mood to pretend that she liked her – it wasn't her style and it was too much of a hassle, she liked being brutally honest to a person's face.

"Oh great, her highness has decided to bless us with her presence," Monique muttered loudly as Serena walked over to them with a cup of yoghurt in her hand. Blair, Isabel and Katy snapped their heads over at Serena's direction and Blair narrowed her eyes in anger.

"Hey, here you guys are. I looked all over the dining hall for you," said Serena, not feeling at all that the tension became stifled with her presence as she was too busy introducing herself to Jenny Blondie Humphrey.

Serena picked up an invitation and casually asked, "So, when's the party?"

Blair looked like she was about to pop an artery. Monique stood up dragging Blair with her, she looped her arm through hers as she approached Serena like a predator would, "Saturday. But you're kind of … well, you're actually not invited."

Taking over, Blair innocently said, "Since until twelve hours ago everyone thought you were at boarding school. And Jenny used up all the invites."

Monique noticed that Jenny looked like she was about to give Serena her invite, "It's quite rude to simply throw an invitation around like that when you were specifically invited by the ones that arranged the party, Blondie – if you don't want to go to the party then hand back the invitation, but it is not up to you to decide who can or cannot go – you merely decorated the invites, you are not the one planning the party. Now, go! Shoo!" she snapped at the end.

Jenny shivered in fear at the icy tone Monique had used on her and the second she was yelled at to leave, she wasted no time in escaping from her sight.

Blair laughed heartily at that and even Katy and Isabel spared a few chuckles at her expense; in fact, only Serena wasn't amused, as she stood there staring at Monique in disapproval.

"If you have something that you want to say darling, then spit it out. I haven't got all day, you see, unlike you, I actually do want to learn something in school," Monique bit out and she could sense that Blair was really enjoying herself.

Serena merely threw the invitation at Monique's face, and she deftly caught it, giving her a sarcastic grin, "Looks like you need to work on your throw as well."

"Well," Blair spoke up finally, wanting to break up the tension and leave, "We should get going then. Unless you want us to wait for you … looks like you got a lot of yoghurt left."

Sarcasm, Monique's absolute favorite.

With an impassive look on her face Serena told them to go on ahead, and as the four of them walked away, Serena turned around, yelling after Monique and Blair if they could meet up tonight.

"I'd love to," said Blair, sounding the exact opposite, "But I'm doing something with Nate tonight."

"Yeah, and I have better things to do," said Monique nonchalantly.

"The Palace, 8 o'clock. Nate will wait," Serena stated her eyes hard as she stared at her two best friends.

Monique and Blair stared at Serena for a few seconds before turning away and leaving her completely alone.

**MM**

The Palace Hotel – Bar.

Monique walked in on Blair and Serena hugging each other.

"I love you B."

"I love you too, S."

"Aww, did you two girlies kiss and make up?" asked Monique sarcastically.

"I think it's our turn for a talk M," said Serena matter-of-factly.

"I don't think so S. just because you and B have made up – well, at least for now, it doesn't mean that it will magically fix everything between us … you can't expect to just waltz back into my life as quick as you left it and expect me to welcome you with open arms," Monique snapped, ignoring Blair and Serena's dumbstruck looks, she moved past them over at the end of the bar where she could drink her tequila in peace.

Around half an hour later, just as Monique was halfway through the tequila bottle, she heard a familiar voice that always managed to drive her crazy and send a tingle down her spine.

"I love this town. I'm going to have to tell my parents the hotel they just bought is serving minors," said Chuck slyly.

"Well it's not like I'm going anywhere, I live in the Palace for now," Monique reminded him. She thanked god that she had a high tolerance to alcohol; otherwise she would have embarrassed herself and admitted her feelings to Chuck on the spot.

"I already have the money, but I want to collect a bit more before I buy the apartment … a few more photo shoots and I'm gold," she smirked.

"Lingerie photo shoots," said Chuck in a slightly raspy voice, making the hair in the back of her neck stand out, "I love it when you talk dirty."

"Well, I prefer not talking at all," Monique winked at him, taking down another shot of tequila.

Chuck felt himself turn hard, that minx was doing it on purpose – he couldn't tear his eyes away from her lips as she tore into a lemon wedge, her plump and succulent red lips covering the skin of the lemon, and he couldn't help but imagine her lips over something else entirely.

Chuckling nervously, he said, "I've missed our witty banter … we haven't done this in a while."

"Let's catch up then," she smirked, taking another shot, "Take our clothes off," another shot, "Stare at each other," another shot.

Chuck gaped at her, he was very hard now. He knew that Monique wasn't drunk the least bit – she had an extremely high and impressive tolerance of alcohol, and he had seen her get drunk only twice, so he knew that right now, she was very sober.

"Mon … we're, uh, best friends …" said Chuck awkwardly.

Hiding her disappointment, Monique shrugged, acting like she didn't care that Chuck had rejected her, "I know … "

She poured down another shot and drank – her eyes connected with a pair of green ones across the bar. The guy was hands on, extremely hot with his black wavy hair, strong jawline and buff body. He raised a glass to her, and she smiled back.

Well, if Chuck wasn't about to give me a good fuck, then that guy would have to do.

Standing up, she drank one last shot, finishing the tequila bottle, "It's your loss Chuck," she winked at him, before she made her way over to the sexy stranger.

**MM**

Chuck stared mouth agape as Monique simply walked away to join that guy.

Drinking a glass of whiskey, Chuck kept his eyes glued on Monique and the guy. His eyes watched as her hands touched his arm or bicep, or pushed a stray hair behind her ear. He listened to the sound of flirting and laughter coming from them and finally he watched as the two of them stood up and walked over to the elevator.

Monique and the guy began a passionate kiss in the elevator … they couldn't even wait until reaching her suite.

Chuck Bass cursed himself for blowing Monique Montgomery off. He was just telling Nate that morning how badly he wanted to have sex with her and then once the perfect opportunity came he turned into a mumbling idiot.

For the first time in a long time, Chuck Bass went to bed alone.

A/N: What do you think of this story? It will mostly be focused on Monique, but there will be other POVs sometimes. Who do you want Monique to end up with?