Disclaimer: If Gossip Girl belonged to me, do you think that there would be TWO WEEKS between episodes? No, Cecily von Ziegesar, Josh Schwartz, the CW, and Warner Bros. There would not be. Additionally, if I came up with all of this scientific knowledge myself, would I be passing Biology? Yes, I would be. And since I am not...let's presume all the smart stuff belongs to somebody else.
The Laws of Science
"No creation ex nihilo" is the principle that something cannot come into existence out of nothing.-Tom Van Flandern
Chuck and Blair's relationship was unplanned. Unintended. Unexpected. However, it was unsurprising, at least to Chuck. After all, he was fully versed in Blair's remarkable qualities thanks to being Nate's best friend for the past ten years.
Another mitigating factor had been that Chuck wasn't an idiot. A man would have to be deaf, blind, and dumb not to notice Blair's stunning features. Virgin though Blair might have been, she most definitely wasn't shy. She changed outfits at least four times a day and when one lives in a place with a full company of servants, modesty is a trait quickly outgrown. Chuck, being a habitual guest to her apartment when she wanted to pick his brain about Nate, had been fortunate enough to witness flashes of skin over the years.
Strangely enough, Chuck realized, he probably saw Blair more than Nate did. Even though Nate was ostensibly Blair's boyfriend, he was never much for deep conversations with Blair. Blair over-thought every one of Nate's gestures and always turned to Chuck for an expert opinion. Nate never knew what to get Blair, so he sent Chuck, who went with Blair to pick something out for herself. Afterwards Blair always dragged Chuck around New York to find a counterpart present for Nate. Chuck speculated that his time as a go-between in Nate and Blair's relationship probably outweighed the amount of time the actual couple spent together.
Chuck and Blair's relationship was not shocking because it had its roots in a long-hidden, underlying mutual attraction that had been dampened and superseded by the clear superiority of the match between Blair and Nate. The removal of that particular obstacle left nothing to block the magnetism between the two, and they collided.
Nate and Blair's breakup may have catalyzed Chuck and Blair's relationship, but Chuck was fooling himself when he pretended that it came out of nowhere.
Perhaps most basic of all the principles of physics is the causality principle. In its simplest form, it reads: "Every effect has a cause." -Tom Van Flandern
Blair was fully aware that she would not have been reunited with Nate had Chuck not pulled that stunt at the debutante ball. Or at least, not in the same way. Her and Nate's reunion had been inevitable, Blair tried to convince herself. Their bond was substantial and compelling, the kind that could not be broken even if the rest of their situation shifted.
She was aware that Chuck had not planned for that reunion, however. Chuck had attempted to create a situation in which Nate would not only look bad, but also be removed permanently as competition for Blair's love. However, he mistakenly believed that Nate was in it to embarrass Carter, not win back Blair. A fatal (at least relationship-with-Blair-wise) mistake.
Still, Blair couldn't shake the nagging feeling that Nate only wanted her once she was unavailable. He had never shown as much attention to her needs in over a year of dating than he did in the few days they were broken up. Perhaps it was just that he took her for granted.
Chuck never took Blair for granted. Even after he had slept with her, taking the one gift she had once desperately wanted to give to Nate, he had purchased that diamond necklace for her on her birthday. Blair enjoyed being treated like a treasure. She was a queen in all other aspects of her life, why not in her relationship, too?
Nate and Blair's steady bond was nothing in the face of the highly charged connection between Chuck and Blair. The memory of that particular union made Blair blush to think of it. Still, Chuck and Blair clashed while Nate and Blair melded: a relationship too volatile to last.
Blair tried to convince herself that Chuck and her could never have made it; he was too fickle. She tried to make herself believe that she ended their relationship just in time, before it turned bad. She tried to instill in her mind the speech she gave Chuck about why they could never work at her seventeenth birthday party. Strangely enough, she could no longer remember what she said.
Once upon a time, the jealous streak Nate showed at the ball and the tenderness he showed her in bed would have made her more sure than ever that Nate was her perfect man. Now Blair was no longer sure of anything. It was all Chuck's fault.
In terms of affinity for electrons, the compounds "higher up" on the chain have a lower affinity for electrons, and tend to give them away to compounds further down the chain. The compounds "lower down" on the chain have a higher affinity for electrons, and tend to grab electrons from the compounds above.-Lawrence Chasin and Deborah Mowshowitz
Chuck knew that Nate's undeniable attraction for all girls was wrapped up in his image of being a sensitive, charming gentleman. He knew that was why Blair went back to him. Even with a disgraced family name, Nate's persona still exemplified the perfect man for the girls of the Upper East Side. And everywhere else.
Nate had always been the golden boy ever since they were kids. Not an original thought in his head, poor boy, but a surprising affinity for being in the right place at the right time. Chuck remembered being little on Halloween and teepeeing the Archibald's apartment with Nate. Their parents returned to the apartment after returning home from a costume party at the Waldorf's that night and punished only Chuck. Even at seven, Nate still had that damn halo on his angelic head.
Nate was still viewed that way by everybody who knew him, except Chuck. Nate participated enthusiastically in Chuck's parties and received the most lapdances from the hired whores than anybody else by far, but Blair still came to Chuck's suite the next day to yell at him instead of her beloved boyfriend for the responsibility in Nate's indiscretions.
Not that Chuck minded, of course. The more trouble Nate and Blair had in their relationship, the more Blair came to Chuck for advice.
Yes, this was the boy who claimed to have Nate's best interests at heart.
But that was beside the point. Despite the connection Chuck believed he had had with Blair, she had still dumped him without a word when Nate renewed his interest in her. Nate's mesmerizing hold over Blair (and the rest of the world) still mystified Chuck to this day, despite their lifelong friendship.
He reflected on this, and wondered if Lucifer had had his whole falling-out-with-the-Lord thing because God kept getting the girls.
He wouldn't be surprised. It was enough to give a guy a major inferiority complex.
However, as electrons are passed down the electron transport chain, they lose much of their free energy.-Max Animations
Blair didn't enjoy being back with Nate as much as she might have expected she would have. Their reunion was supposed to be destiny. She was supposed to marry him with a ten-carat diamond ring on her finger, move into the largest penthouse on the Upper East Side, and pop out two-point-five kids with Prada baby booties. The future, which used to be so clear, was now akin to looking into a dirty fishbowl. Where all the fish have starved to death for lack of food.
Blair and Nate's relationship used to mirror the one-of-a-kind beautiful glass vase that once sat on her kitchen table: perfectly and smoothly formed and the envy of all her mother's friends. But in the same way that Serena had chased Blair giggling through the house, accidently smashing the vase to the ground, the construction they had attempted to crazy-glue together out of the shards never fooled anyone into believing it was the original.
Blair and Nate themselves were barely fooled. Blair never asked Nate about the multiple hickeys on his neck she saw when they got back together, and he never asked her why she wasn't a virgin when they finally made love.
Blair found herself wishing for the free spirit she had been with Chuck. Well, not free, exactly, but more herself. Free to be herself. Chuck let her be as uptight or as loose as she wanted. When she wanted. Chuck understood Blair almost as well as she knew herself: it's Blair's way or nothing. Nate always wanted Blair to relax, loosen up, ("To be like Serena…" the voice niggled at her) but Chuck never asked her for anything other than she wanted to give.
Funny she gave him her virginity, then. Blair still didn't know why she gave him the one gift she withheld from Nate. Or, more accurately, she didn't want to remember why.
The best thing about Chuck was that he knew that uptight, tense Blair was part of her personality. He wouldn't have loved (loved?) her if she had been any different. Whereas Nate only wanted her to change and unwind, Chuck liked her the way she was.
Suddenly, Blair couldn't remember why she was with Nate at all.
Then she considered, and she knew. Nate was the perfect man.
The counterpart of not allowing the creation of something from nothing is "No Demise as nihil"; i.e., something cannot become nothing. However finely a thing may dissolve, however undetectable the bits of "energy" into which a thing may explode, if all the individual bits were brought together again with the same ordering, the original thing would be recovered. In other words, nothing has ceased to exist; it has merely changed its appearance or form.-Tom Van Flandern
As much as Blair wanted to deny that the relationship between her and Chuck never existed, such explosive feelings did not simply dissolve. She could do her best to keep Chuck from blabbing to Nate about their past indiscretions. She could try her hardest to fix the broken vase. But the Erickson-Beaumon necklace lay in its velvet box in her nightstand. She couldn't bring herself to give it away, or even hide it in her closet. She wanted to keep it close.
She could try to hide the evidence of her relationship with Chuck, at least for appearances. Gossip Girl was always commenting on that stupid website of hers about what a perfect society girlfriend Blair was being for Nate. For all appearances, Blair and Nate might never have broken up.
Unfortunately for Blair, the memories took longer to fade away. The purple five-finger-shaped bruise on her waist had all but disappeared within a few days, but Blair still woke up some mornings, over six months later, with Chuck's name on her lips.
Chuck knew the unfortunate truths of relationships. There was a reason he never slept with a girl more than once. Or sober, for that matter. Once it was real enough to remember the girl, there was no such thing as "no strings attached."
Chuck wanted to let it all go. He did, truly. Pretending it never happened would be so much easier than admitting the reality: he was in love with his best friend's girlfriend. And yes, she had been his before. Only the reality was so much more complicated than a Rick Springfield song. The best friend had no clue that his perfect girlfriend lost her chastity to Chuck. Nor did he know that his perfect girlfriend was starting to realize that maybe Chuck was better, anyway. Post-coital text messages while Chuck knew for a fact Blair and Nate are in bed together (Nate out like a log) to Chuck at 3am don't lie.
The laws of science never lie.
--CB--
Feedback is totally appreciated. I still can't decide if I like this fic, despite the fact that I wrote it almost two weeks ago, right after I saw the ep "Hi! Society." But I figured I ought to post it before it became AU with the release of (!!!!!!) Roman Holiday. It should be fabulous, y'all (I'm talking about the show, btw). I'm so excited!
--CB--
Works Cited (in order of use):
(since the links would not load, visit the version of this fic at supergirlscafe DOT livejournal DOT com to see the sources. Sorry!)