AN: Hey Guys this is my first ever Fan Fic so I hope it isn't to bad I also have an awsome Beta who should take lots of credit for my horrible Grammar skills well here you go my first chapter xxox Missy

DISCLAIMER: I don't take credit for owning any of the characters or other trademarked items mentioned within this fanfic.

Let's Play a Love Game

Friends, Gotta Love Them

San Francisco was filled with the laughter of four girls as Blair, Serena and their friends Kati and Is played truth or dare in Serena's apartment. They were having a girls night, to remind them of their high school days. Kati and Is had just kissed – Blair Waldorf's signature dare – and all the girls were laughing at the memories of the past, the days before life had worn away their innocence.

"Alright, Blair," Serena van der Woodsen said.

"Truth or dare? Oh, and you chose truth last time, so I guess it's dare," Serena teased.

"Whatever," Blair replied, not really caring. She loved truth or dare, but today she wasn't particularly in the mood for reliving her youth through a girly sleepover, especially considering the circumstances. She was having trouble trying to raise enough money to pay her bills, and then on top of that her mother had had yet another retail therapy 'outburst' leaving her to struggle to pull the extra funds.

Ever since Blair had graduated, and her father had stopped paying child support, she had been working 24/7 to support her and her mother Eleanor Waldorf – meaning that she had left her social life behind, along with the easy existence of a high school teenager.

"Okay," her best friend began. "I dare you to submit an application to the new show on MTV," Serena declared with a laugh.

"What show?" Blair asked, being forced to immediately snap from her worry-filled mind back to the present. "And, for the record, that is the stupidest dare ever."

"You know, the new dating show," Serena pushed.

"'Love Game'?" Blair nodded in recognition as Serena laughed,

" Oh and if it isn't so bad, you won't mind doing it." Serena continued.

"Fine!" Blair responded. Little did she know the whole dare was a scheme to get her to go out on a date. Serena had met a guy from the selection committee a couple of months ago, and had worked a deal so that Blair's application would be accepted no matter what. Serena had been worrying on-and-off about Blair since her parents had gotten divorced in junior year. Blair hadn't had a proper relationship since, and after graduation she hadn't even gone on a single date and that was five years ago.

On the other side of the country, Chuck Bass, the notorious play boy of Upper East Side New York, was sitting at the Palace Hotel's bar drinking scotch with his best friend Nate. At three in the morning, they stumbled back up to Chuck's suite talking about the adventures they had had, and the trouble they had caused, one year at the annual Lost Weekend. Chuck hadn't been in the mood to pick up a girl tonight – his mind was distracted with thoughts of his grandmother, the renowned owner and designer of Fisher Designs, Charlotte Fisher. Ever since she had gotten sick about six months before, he had been staying with her to help her out. However, just a week ago the doctor had announced that her condition was worsening. His mother, Evelyn Fisher-Bass, was taking the news badly, and his father Bart was doing everything he could to keep her together. Whilst out, Chuck realized that he would need to check on her, so evidently he got up to leave. He turned for the door to his suite, leaving Nate behind with merely a "hey, man, I need to check on my grandma, but you can stay if you want," before he stalked out of the room to find her.

Nate had been worried about his friend for the last couple of weeks. He hadn't been acting like himself, and astonishingly he hadn't once heard the notorious words, "I'm Chuck Bass" leave his mouth. Everyone knew, Chuck Bass just didn't do feelings or emotions, and definitely didn't share them, but Chuck did care about his family. They were everything to him – growing up as a child, he had been led to believe his mother had died, but when he was ten his father had achieved his goal of finding her by utilizing the world's best private investigators. A memory clear in Nate's mind was that of Evelyn and Bart's wedding when he and Chuck were thirteen – it was the first time that he had ever seen Chuck produce a genuine smile, he had even laughed during his speech as best man.

Nate decided he needed to do something to bring Chuck out of his misery, to lift his spirits. So, whilst Nate was lying on the couch and channel surfing, he came across an advertisement for a new show named 'Love Game' on MTV – that was it, he thought. In his drunken state, he logged on to Chuck's computer and sent in an application for his friend. If he got accepted, it would be good for him and could even supply laughs for the future – plus, what girl would turn down a free date and a 'night of fun' with Chuck Bass? He really hoped that this would work, for Chuck's sake. Anyway, Nate owed him, Chuck had helped him out at numerous past occasions, and it was time he showed some gratitude by doing something for him this time. Nate quickly sent a text letting Chuck know what he had done.

Chuck, I know it's late but I just wanted to let you know I sent in an application for you to that new game show, Love Game on MTV. Hope you don't mind, N.

When Chuck Bass got back to his grandmother's penthouse, he was tired and tipsy and so went to bed straight away. However, lying there all he could think about were the doctor's words – "because of her age, there's not much else we can do. I am deeply sorry," he had said. Those fateful few sentences kept replaying over and over again in his head, he was starting to regret not picking up some easy, blonde bimbo or ordering up some hookers to help the pain subside, but it was too late. He got up and swallowed a couple of sleeping pills, to help him get a good nights sleep. He was sick and tired of the dreams, the memories, and all he ever seemed to do was look after his grandmother and then go out and get wasted with Nate. The sleeping pills he had downed started to take effect, and the last thing he remembered thinking that night was that he would do everything in his power to help his grandmother. Just before he fell into a restless sleep, he heard his phone go off, but he dismissed it and left it until the morning.

Back at Serena's apartment in San Francisco, Kati and Isabel decided to leave early – they said something suspicious about Kati's boyfriend being in trouble, and needing to go help him. Blair didn't believe them for one second, but she wasn't in the mood to make a scene. Instead, she decided to go and sit on the couch and watch television. She felt herself drift into a state of carelessness, until she saw the ad for 'Love Game' come onto Serena's TV screen, which made her feel so sick she had to switch it off. She prayed to God that they wouldn't select her, she really didn't need that distraction right now. However, she did acknowledge that if they did select her, she couldn't deny the offer – it wasn't in her nature to back down from a dare.

Even after a night of martinis, epic truth or dare games and lots of laughter, Blair was still thinking about how she could possibly make ends meet this time. She didn't understand why her father would do this to her and her mom. When she was a little girl, Harold was her entire world, but then when her parents divorced it was the end of that fantasy. Eventually, she had learned to move on and cherish each one of his visits. He paid enough child support for her education, and to keep her and her mother in the simple lifestyle they were accustomed to. However, Blair hadn't seen her daddy since graduation – he never called, never visited and never wrote, it seemed. There was one lone occasion that she had contacted her father since she had finished high school, and that was the year prior on her 24th birthday – except, she found herself wishing he hadn't made the effort as all he did was make her feel worthless and not deserving of his time nor affection.

Serena walked in after seeing Kati and Is off, and immediately noticed Blair sitting on the couch looking spaced. Blair only ever looked like that when something was seriously wrong. She and Serena had been friends since junior high, and she knew Blair, she knew when something was up. Blair had been struggling ever since graduation to pay for everything in her life, and in the process had developed into a workaholic that seemed to push everyone that cared about her away. She remembered Blair's 24th, for which her father Harold had sent a card with fifty dollars in it, causing her to stifle a scream and spend her week locked away like a recluse. Other than that, her father hadn't contacted her, and so every so often she would have yet another meltdown, to the point where in senior year she had developed a condition only she and Serena knew about, that remained completely taboo. The last five or six years had been hard on Blair, and Serena had always tried to help her out but could never find means. Recently, she had noticed Blair had been down more than usual, giving her a reason to set her up on this dating show. She needed to help her desperately, and using her logic thought that maybe having a guy in her life would cheer Blair up and bring her some joy. Although, right at that moment maybe all that they needed to do was to sit and talk – the only problem was getting Blair to blurt out her feelings wasn't easy even when she trusted you like she did Serena.

"B," Serena called softly, but Blair didn't move – she was still absorbed in her own little world. "Blair," she said more forcefully.

"Yes?" Blair asked, sounding like she had just woken up.

"What's wrong, B?" Serena gave a pause. "You've been acting weird – you love sleepovers, they're your thing! You've been down all night…actually, you've been down all month, for that matter. Talk to me, B."

"I'm fine, S," Blair brushed off Serena's questions nonchalantly. "I have no idea what you're talking about, seriously, just calm down and relax. You're over-analyzing everything, which I must say is a new occurrence for you," Blair retorted sarcastically. She didn't feel like having a 'D&M' with Serena just now.

"You know what? I give up. Keep your feelings to yourself, I was just trying to help you out." Serena exhaled, irritated.

"Well, you know what? I don't need it, so save your breath Serena. This isn't much of a reunion sleepover, I think I might just go home." There was a pause as Blair collected her things. Serena knew they needed to talk, she just had to think of something to make her stay.

"But," Serena said softly. "I thought we could watch 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'," Serena tried to hold onto her last way to keep Blair around so she could take time getting her to open up.

"Maybe some other time, 'cause right now, I'm tired, and watching 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' really isn't on my to-do list," Blair looked forced.
"Goodbye, S. See you later, maybe," she said as she walked out of the door.

Serena gave up – she would try again in a couple of days, but right now Blair was a force not to be reckoned with, and she really didn't want to get into a fight with her. She would figure something else out tomorrow. As she walked into the kitchen to get a drink, she realized that she was kind of tired. Fighting with Blair always wore her out, so she went and clambered into bed, falling asleep thinking of ways that she could help Blair.

Blair got home in the early hours of the morning. She was tired and stressed, and she had to go to an event that afternoon for work which made things even worse. Her job as a publicist's assistant kept her very busy, and she didn't often get the whole weekend off. She usually didn't mind though – working on weekends meant she got paid more, and she could use all the money she could get. However, fighting with her best friend had made her upset, and she couldn't see why she had blown up at Serena, who was only trying to help even if it wasn't needed. She wasn't depressed, Blair thought, she was fine, and Serena was overreacting. She was just a little distracted, which wasn't her fault, and Serena had made a huge deal over it. She was fine, wasn't she? She had to be, she couldn't be weak, Blair thought to herself. She just needed something that would make her life a bit easier, that was all. Putting her thoughts to the back of her mind, as soon as she got into bed and her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep.

AN: So there it is guys since I am on holidays I will try and post a new chapter soon all though I am going away but fingers crossed it gets finished. Reviews are welcomed and I would love to hear any of your suggestion and even constructive criticism. Keep in mind it is my first story Hope you like it can't wait to see what you think XXOX