Title: Just Leave Me Here In Pieces
Characters: Blair, Eric
Rating/Word Count: T | 871
Disclaimer: 'Gossip Girl' belongs to Cecily von Ziegesar, Josh Schwartz, and the CW. No copyright infringement intended. Title from Backstreet Boys' In Pieces. (Great song. Perfect for Blair Waldorf & Eric van der Woodsen. It's a great character song.)
Warning: This story heavily features cutting and bulimia. I am neither, so I'm basing this on research (and I have a minor in pscyhology).
Author's Note: I love B and my baby (Eric). Duh. This is my favorite sibling-ship. I think it would benefit them both to have each other in their lives. Please let me know what you think!

Blair walked down the hall and paused momentarily when she saw light. She frowned, ready to ask Eric why he wasn't at her event. Walking to the doorway, she paused again and watched him. He was in bed wearing pajamas and reading.

He suddenly looked up, expression completely blank; it startled her.

She put on a smile. "Hey. Why are you home? You should be -"

"You should be there." His tone made her smile disappear. It wasn't that he sounded angry or irritated; he just sounded emotionless.

"I needed something here for the party," she responded and walked to the bed. She was about to ask him what was wrong when he shifted and she noticed something on his wrist. It took her only a second to realize what she was seeing. Blair immediately grabbed his wrist; he had no time to get away. "What is this?"

He pulled hard out of grasp. "What?"

"Don't you play dumb with me, Eric van der Woodsen! What have you been doing?" she asked hoarsely, scared.

"Reading," deadpanned.

Her eyes met his – blank. She reached for his wrist again, but he pulled back this time.

"Don't you have a party to host?" he snapped. He just wanted to read; why wouldn't she leave him alone?

"Do you really think I'm going to go away? After last time?"

He stayed silent for a minute. "You don't know anything about 'last time,'" he finally said, blankly, quietly.

"I know," she whispered and sat down beside him. "That's the point. I didn't know, and I should have been around," she confessed. "So if you think I am going to leave you alone, Eric, you underestimate me. And the way I love you," she added. Because that was the most important fact and he needed to know and understand it.

His gaze dropped, and she took advantage by hugging him tightly. After a moment, he reciprocated, leaning into her. She said nothing about the tears, only let her own fall. After some time – a minute, five, an hour – the repetitive beeping of Blair's phone pulled Eric away.

"You should make sure everything is okay with your party," he pointed out.

"I have been organizing these things on my own since I was 14. Nothing is wrong; just a bunch of overreactions and people who need to be told what to do," she stated in response.

"And you'd want to give up that opportunity?" he teased with a soft smile.

She smiled weakly. "Who needs headless chickens when you have a little brother who, once-upon-a-time, never questioned, only trusted."

He shifted, shaking his head. He paused, trying to find the right words to explain what he was feeling. "Trust has to be earned. Blind faith gets you nowhere." He went with a cliché.

(His entire life felt like a cliché.)

She took his chin in her hand and forced him to look at her. "You think I don't know that? It's me. My mother, my dad, Serena, Nate," she paused, "Chuck. I get that more than most, Eric. And I want to be there for you; I want you to be able to trust me. Because you can't without trust."

She felt a tad hypercritical saying that, but then again, maybe she just trusted too much. Eric was right, blind faith was bad. But the opposite left you alone. There needed to be a balance.

Suddenly, he just broke. "Please don't say anything," he begged.

She sighed. "Eric - "

"It's not what you think," he promised.

She waited for an explanation.

He caved after a minute. "It's just that everyone is always making decisions without me. Everything is going to shit around me. I want to help, but no one is listening. It makes me feel helpless and that feeling makes me sad and so angry." He took a breath. "And this?" he showed his wrist, "I don't know how to explain it but when I do it, I feel -"

"In control," she finished without blinking at his admission of on-going cutting.

He stared at her, confusion on his face. "How'd you know?"

She let out a bitter laugh and stroked his cheek. "Because I'm bulimic," she confessed – because trust goes both ways. She watched as he took in what she said and almost laughed as his jaw dropped. In fact, she did let out a chuckle. "This is actually a shock, Eric?"

He couldn't answer, because was it really surprising that Blair Waldorf – Queen of Control, daughter of a fashion daughter, his blonde goddess sister's best friend – had an eating disorder? Of course not. Honestly, it would make sense; it explained how she managed to deal with her life – how she couldn't. He went back into the hug. He was so tired – of life, of feeling so out of control, so hopeless. He cried some more, freely. Blair slipped off her heels and shifted them so they were lying down. He stayed in her arms. And without giving another thought to her phone – her event, her job – she closed her eyes. Tomorrow she would talk with him more seriously and figure out how to help him.

AN #2: This will be a multi-chapter story, but at the moment, it's good as a stand-alone. But I have more. And it will include heavily on Chuck's relationship with the two; Nate and Eric bonding; and the rest of the UES.