I'm really sorry guys about the way these chapters were written. There are some parts with so many mistakes that even I can't understand what I wrote. So I corrected them, changing several things, but the main story and plot remains. I'm still correcting the chapters, but as soon as I finish I will post them.

And well, I thanked wholeheartedly all of you who even with the many, many mistakes read, liked and reviewed the story.

Chapter 1

Any man would be lucky to have you

...

March 10th, 1912

London, England.

A month before the Titanic sets sail.

...

Blair Cornelia Waldorf was the daughter of Harold Waldorf, gun powder magnate and American heiress Eleanor Du Point—, who later married Lord Cyrus Rose when Harold died. Blair was only ten.

It had taken a while, but she liked Cyrus now. He was a good man who kept her mother happy. He even spent most of the year in New York, instead of his state on Bristol or his house on London.

Currently, Blair was sitting outside the Rose residence on a garden bench, while her friend Serena's engagement party and her own were on its peak behind her.

She couldn't help but sigh, knowing her mother probably was looking for her and the lecture she was about to receive. And she knew, this time her mother was right. After all, she was one of the hostesses and it was incredibly rude to leave your party without a word but she just needed a moment. A moment to breathe and think or she would crumble down.

Blair took another deep breath and looked around. It was a warm night. Slowly the winter was fading away, but occasionally a cool breeze would make her shiver. She was looking at the moonlight spilling over the garden. The light turned silver the trees' leaves, the roses and the bushes, and it dyed the water of the rectangular marble fountain, making shine the Venus statue's eyes as if they were really alive, as if they were looking right at her. It was a lovely sight thought, and a romantic one too, and she would have loved to share it with the man she loved... But the man she loved just didn't care.

The echoes of the music and, the thousands of snooty and pretentious laughs reached her. But they sounded really far. So far away from her in that moment and that was odd. She had never felt before like an outsider of the swanky world indoors behind her. On the contrary, she lived for that world and that lifestyle since she could remember. As a child, she used to watch her mother fixing her hair with lovely pins made of pearls and precious stones, wearing those beautiful silk dresses and large brimmed hats with artificial flowers and bows. She used to imagine a sophisticated adult version of herself dressed like that and with several suitors giving her precious gifts trying to steal her heart, dancing around enormous and beautiful ballrooms, full of elegant people like her with gold shiny champagne on their flutes, talking about how perfect and powerful she was. And now, being seventeen years old and with a handsome and rich fiancé, those fantasies had become true. She was one of the most beautiful and admired girls in the American and English high society. She was a fine lady, a leader, a role model for the younger debutantes and a perfect girl in every sense. Her life should have been perfect, after all everyone thought it was, but a series of disasters had turned her life around, making her life a mess. First of all, it was the way she was raised. She wasn't raised by her mother or her father but by governesses, servants and her loyal Polish maid, Dorota, because Eleanor didn't have time for a children games or education when there were parties to attend, and galas and social events to host, and fights with her husband.

And her father, well, Harold loved Blair and spoiled her shamelessly, but his work was first so she was left aside to the care of the others. She was used to that, though. She and her friends knew how the world where they lived worked. They knew in their world didn't exist loving and attentive parents. They had nannies, governesses, valets, bank accounts and servants.

But, compare to her friends', her life was really good. They said good friends, real good friends are always few and she knew it. Her friends were Serena Van Der Woodsen, Nathaniel Archibald and Charles Bass. Their three last names, along with Blair's, corresponded to four of the wealthiest and affluent families in America; all of their parents were heirs to large fortunes or tycoons on the growing industries. So they grew together. They raised each other and was only natural—at least Eleanor used to say that—that Blair and Nate were destined to be together. He was a good guy, and was everything Chuck Bass wasn't, at least in Blair's opinion. Nate was a gentleman who treated ladies with respect and gentleness. Chuck was a drunkard, always with a loose lady hanging on his arm and—according to rumors—, many more lying on his bed. And he never bothered to deny them. In fact, he gloated and laughed about them with Nate, Serena and Blair. The girls, of course, always found him gross and tasteless, but Blair actually liked to spend time with him despite his many flaws because of his quick wit and interesting stories. They weren't stories for ladies' ears and she always scolded him about them, but couldn't find herself always returning to him for more. And, she also discovered a side of him, none else knew. It was when she was fourteen and their parents got a divorce. It was a big fat scandal and was in everyone's mouth. Blair felt like dying; not Nate or Serena could raise her spirits, but Chuck did with a smirk, a bunch of vulgar stories and insults that made Blair blush. He made her see it was not her fault and everything was going to be fine. He smiled warmly at her and wiped off her tears, and Blair never saw that side of Chuck again. She sometimes even wondered if that had really happened.

Two years later, when Blair was sixteen, Nate started to court her and a month later, he asked for her hand. Blair couldn't be happier, she had all these plans for the two of them, but as the time passed, he grew colder to her. He wasn't sweet or attentive anymore, everything he did for her seemed forced and when Cal Hockley asked for Serena's hand, she lost him. Ironically, their engagement continued. Blair knew, but had been denied to herself, the growing attraction of Nate towards Serena. She told herself that maybe she was just imagining things, and maybe she was just overreacting. But then she started to notice the new and peculiar way Nate looked at Serena. It was painfully similar to how he used to look at her. And the things just got worse. He would laugh at her jokes and his eyes would sparkle every time she entered the room and as harder Blair tried to hold onto him, farther he seemed to slip through her fingers. But she couldn't just lose him like that. She was Blair Waldorf, and what she wanted she got. So she chose a gorgeous yellow dress, which made her skin and hair glow, decided to win him back at their engagement party. They stood in the middle of the ballroom in her stepfather's home, next to Serena and Cal and announced to the English high society their engagement. Nate almost looking like a lifeless puppet. And, as a puppet, he danced with her, and stood with her next to their guest and brought her punch as if she were pulling him from his strings. Blair looked at him all night and saw how he barely paid her attention. How heavily he drank, although discreet, and how his eyes seemed to follow Serena with yearning, until she had enough. She left the room, walking to the dark gardens feeling as if her corset were crushing her.

Now, being there outside, she started to fidget with the chiffon of her yellow silk dress, thinking about her life and her future with Nate. Would it have to be always like that; fighting for attention she would barely receive? The thought made her dizzy. What would it take to win back Nate's affections? Did she have to be like Serena, always with her silly childlike laugh, making inappropriate commentaries? But she knew that wasn't Serena's appealing. Her friend was spirited and carefree, she was sparkling and lively. Her hair seemed prettier and her skin fairer, she was thinner. Serena was perfect, Blair knew, and no matter how hard she tried, she would never be her.

That thought didn't help her, but just made her feel worse. Oddly, she missed Chuck's company, if only he wasn't with that woman he had brought…

"My, my…, what are you doing here alone?" A deep velvet-like voice drawled behind her and she rolled her eyes, turning to him.

Chuck was handsome, despite everything. He had a strong, square chin and deep brown eyes that made him look arrogant, dangerous and, sometimes malicious. He was dressed impeccably and fashionable too, wearing a gray tail coat tuxedo, a red silk piqué waistcoat, and a black bow tie. He looked dapper as always and Blair felt shivers running down her spine. She thought the Devil must have looked like that.

Blair faced Chuck's smirk while he was strutting to her, a glass of scotch in his hand and she cocked her brow.

"So it's true, speak of the Devil and he doth appear," Blair responded sarcastically, but he just widened his smirk as he walked around the bench and sat next to her.

"So you were thinking about me, Waldorf? I felt touched," Chuck quipped, placing his free hand over his chest and the girl rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked him, crossing her arms.

"Well, I already asked you that, but you didn't answer me."

"I just—needed some fresh air," Blair lied nonchalantly knowing she hadn't fooled him, but Chuck didn't say anything, he just stared at her drinking his scotch.

"And you?" Blair turned to him, trying to change the topic. "I thought you were having such a great time with that—huh—woman," she used that word instead of the one she had in mind; whore, even when the second fitted more the description of that awful woman who had been throwing herself shamelessly at him all night. "What was her name again, Georgiana?

Chuck smirked at her lightly.

"Georgina… I think," he stretched over the bench and cocked his eyebrows at her. "It's interesting to know that you've been paying so much attention to me tonight. May I hope you're jealous?"

Blair huffed and rolled her eyes. She hadn't intended for their conversation to go there.

"In your dreams, Bass," she wasn't jealous… slightly upset, but definitely not jealous. She just hated that he always brought the worst kind of company to her events.

Chuck just chuckled.

"Oh, indeed. Although in my dreams you do much more than just to be jealous…," the clear innuendo made Blair blushed and glared at him.

"You may leave now," she told him sharply, looking away.

"Come on, Blair. You know I was joking. You're Nathaniel's girl, I respect that."

The mention of Nate and her as his girl was so far of reality that she felt that oppressing feeling returning but this time joined with sadness.

Chuck watched as her face saddened and his smirk disappeared.

"Blair, what's wrong?"

"I—," Blair didn't know what to say, because if she asked him, if she acknowledged her suspicions, she was afraid they would become reality.

"I mean, you're going to marry Nathaniel, and the whole English society is back there pea green of you, so I don't understand why you are here alone."

Blair bit her lip unsure and a little lock of hair fell on her face while she was trying to find her voice again. She was beautiful indeed, Chuck said to himself. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, he admitted a little surprised.

"I can trust you, right Chuck?" she asked him sheepishly, turning to look at him.

He would have liked to say no, and that would be a mistake, but as he took in her tortured expression he couldn't help but felt protective.

He nodded slowly without looking away and Blair took a deep breath.

"I think… I have the feeling that Nate doesn't love me anymore."

"Why are you saying that?" Chuck asked, frowning. He sensed where the conversation was heading and he didn't like it.

"I—I…," Blair blushed and shook her head again. "Forget what I said," she told him, staring at the ground as if she were hopping to disappear into thin air, but Chuck didn't look away.

Sometimes Blair could really puzzle him, nothing easy to do. She had always impressed and amazed him. She was this delicate lady, always prim and proper, always knowing the right thing to say and where, with the correct answer and looks of a beautiful china doll. But she was also witty and strong, and could be even as sarcastic and mean as he, and Chuck couldn't help but be intrigued. And despite all his teasing, he really admired and respected Blair. She was the only woman he considered his equal. So he loved to make her angry, to see her eyes sparkle with anger and shot back clever responses... But he wasn't used to seeing her like this, like a broken little girl. He had only seen her like this once and it wasn't good. She was not the Blair he knew, and he didn't like it.

"Chuck," she said suddenly, dragging him out of his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"You had always been a good friend of Nate, don't you?" she asked looking at him.

"Yes," he replied and she nodded. "But you know that."

"Yes, I—I mean you know him really well. You could tell if he's, for example, not being honest."

"What are you really trying to ask me, Waldorf?" He asked her without beating around the bush like clearly she was doing and she cast her eyes down. Her pale skin looked ghostly white beneath the moonlight, her pouty pink lips trembled lightly and her eyes turned glassy.

"Blair, are you all right?" Chuck asked now really concerned, leaning lightly to her.

She nodded and looked up, startling when she noticed he was too close to her.

"I... You...? Is he...?" She just couldn't find the right words and got frustrated. She took a deep breath and turned to look into Chuck's eyes.

"You know if Nate… likes another girl?"

Chuck opened his eyes wide looking at her surprised, not knowing how to answer that.

"Please, I'm dying inside. I think I'm losing him," Blair asked him hopeless, her voice shaken with restrained tears.

She knew he knew, he had to know, he was his best friend and Nate would tell him everything.

"Blair...," he started, but he couldn't say anything else. He was suspecting, no, he was sure his friend had a crush for another girl, for Serena actually, but he couldn't just say that to Blair. That would be too cruel. He liked to tease her and to make her angry, yes, but not to hurt her, never hurt her. And those hopeless eyes staring at him didn't help him. He sighed.

"Blair... He would be a completely fool if he lets you go."

Her heart sank, realizing he never denied it. She knew it! Chuck had tried not to make her feel bad, but hearing that her suspicions were true was too much to bear. She clenched her jaw and fists, holding back the tears.

"I knew it," she whispered.

"Blair—"

"Is it Serena?" She interrupted him abruptly and turned to him. He looked at her surprised again, unable to answer, but it wasn't necessary; she could read it on his face.

"I'm such a fool!" She cried, covering her face with her hands, standing abruptly and running away.

Chuck just stared at like an idiot as she ran away. He hadn't seen her like that since her parents' divorce and he knew she wasn't just throwing a tantrum. She was really hurt.

Before he realized what he was doing, he left the glass on the bench and went after her. He reached her soon. She couldn't run very fast because of her heels and her dress.

"Blair!" He called her and she stopped breathless, her back to him. She hated to cry, she used to keep herself from crying if she could, but this time she just couldn't help it.

"I want to be alone!" She choked, sobbing. She just didn't want him to see her cry. Not because she didn't trust him, but because she didn't want him to see her fragile and vulnerable. She felt disgusting, weak and worthless, and she didn't want anyone to see her like that, especially him.

She embraced herself, ducking her head, crying in silence and Chuck looked at her feeling his chest tightening. He hated woman's cries, he just couldn't bear them. But seeing Blair wasn't awkward or annoying as usually was when women wept, it was breaking something inside him.

Blair heard the grass crunching and she thought that Chuck was returning to the party, but she froze when she felt his arms, finding his way around her waist and then his body pressed to her back and his breath brushed her shoulder softly.

He didn't touch her in an inappropriate way or trying to take advantage of her. He was just trying to comfort her and she was touched by his actions. Besides, something else happened there and they felt it, something light and warm growing between them, something electrifying and new for both of them. She felt her skin warming up under his hands, and he felt something strange in his stomach, something intruder… fluttering. And he realized some things that he hadn't noticed before, like her fresh and sweet aroma—like roses and lavender, like a bouquet—, or the softness of her pale skin, or her shiny curls that under the moonlight looked black, but he knew very well that those curls were a nice chestnut's shade.

Blair felt so peaceful out there with his hands on her body and his warm breath on her neck. And she slowly placed her hands over his, relishing in his warm while watching the dark starry sky above them.

She closed her eyes, not even remembering at which point she had stopped crying, relaxing her body in his arms. He smelled like scotch, of course, and like fine cigars, but also like peppermint and something else, something fresher and spicy, something that was lingering in her nose and she leaned back slightly to let the aroma evolve her.

"Any man would be lucky to have you," Chuck whispered after a while on her ear and she smiled slowly.