Finally, I got an idea for a multi-chapter fic. No more one shots, I promise :) Read and review! Enjoy!

Trying in vain

Nate couldn't remember the last time he had to run because of a Gossip Girl blast. His lungs were burning, and he couldn't feel his legs anymore. He could have got a cab, but he chose not to. He chose to run. He wanted that rush of adrenaline that always seemed to help whenever he got confused or hurt. But this time he wasn't even confused, or hurt for that matter, he was worried. She was back in town. She managed to avoid his messages the whole summer, and he didn't know why. He wanted to talk, to ask how she's doing, when's the wedding, that's all. And now she was back home, and she looked like a ghost of herself in that picture.

"Where is she?" he asked Dorota, breathless, when he finally arrived her shared apartment with Serena.

"Miss Blair said she wants to be alone. No guests", Dorota replied coldly, trying to shrug him off by walking away to the kitchen. She expected him to leave, like he usually does when he's asked to do so. But this was anything but usual. He opened the door abruptly and saw nothing but an empty room. His first instinct was to check the bathroom. When he opened the door, he half expected to find her kneeling above the toilet, crying. But she wasn't there. He could hear the water flowing in the shower, but he could also hear her crying. He took a few steps back, and closed the door behind him quietly. Knowing her, she needed to cry it out, whatever it was, and he was willing to wait in her room for however it takes.

It wasn't long until she walked out of her bathroom, a towel covering her fragile body. She noticed him right away, and just walked passed him towards her closet, ignoring his existence. She started picking up clothes and throwing each and every item on her bed, directly at him.

"What are you doing?" he asked after ducking in order to avoid a bra she threw above his head.

"I thought I told Dorota not to let anyone in.", she answered in a low voice.

"She might have told me something about that", he chuckled, desperately trying to make her turn around. She didn't, she just kept throwing her clothes everywhere.

He sighed. He wanted to tell her she can let her guard down, because he already heard her crying, and she can tell him what's wrong, but he knows it might cause the opposite result, and she might actually make the walls surrounding her thicker, so he stayed quiet for a moment, trying to figure out what to say.

"Why are you here?" she said all of a sudden, stopping her movements and waiting for his answer.

"I saw that Gossip Girl blast, and I know you're supposed to get married in a month, so I just-"

"Get out", she said coldly, dismissing him with her free hand.

"Wait, what?" he asked and furrowed his eyebrows. He never saw her acting like that before.

"I told you to get out, what's not to get, Archibald?" she replied.

"I was trying to be a good friend, why are you shutting me out?"

"Because I need to be alone", she was being impatient pretty quickly.

"Fine, I just thought we could-"

"No. That will be a mistake. If it makes you feel any better, I'm fine, and you shouldn't have come", she said quickly, and he knew right in that moment, that's it's the last she'll ever say to him in a while.

He got up and reached his hand in order to touch her shoulder, to make her look at him, but she didn't budge. He knew she was crying, he could feel it in every bone of his body. He knew her more than he knew himself, and he wasn't sure she recognized that.

He closed her bedroom door behind him and leaned on it. She said they were fine before she went to Monaco, she promised it will be just fine. Something must have happened with Louis or Chuck, something he didn't know about. By the way she acted, he was pretty sure she would not be the source who's going to tell him about what happened. He'll have to dig it out, and he knew where to start. He and Chuck came back from Africa only a week ago. He wasn't sure Chuck was responsible for Blair's odd behavior, even though it might be the ultimate explanation. Chuck was always the cause in those cases, but it was unlikely.

When he arrived Chuck's suite in the Empire, he stumbled upon two giggling girls on their way out. Very unlikely indeed.

"Hey", Nate said when he saw Chuck with his regular scotch glass in his hand and a purple robe.

"Nathaniel", Chuck nodded his head.

"Look, umm, did you talk to Blair lately?"

"No, she's in Monaco or something, getting married?" Chuck shrugged and took a sip out of his scotch.

Nate didn't want to investigate further. Chuck's answer said it all – he didn't even know she was back in town; hence, he couldn't be responsible for her unreasonable behavior. Something was bothering her, and it wasn't Chuck.

It could be Louis, they might have broken up and she's just devastated. Or it could be… No, it can't. Nate shook his head and fell on his bed. She said they were fine. Besides, she was getting married, or at least supposed to get married. Nate was clueless. The ultimate solution was always Serena. She knew Blair best. Unfortunately, as far as he knows, she's still in California, raiding beach parties with some producers.

All he could think of was Dan, who is apparently still in the Hamptons. He knew they were some kind of friends, but with Blair being in Monaco most of the summer and Dan outside the city, Dan couldn't possibly know something.

He was never a good investigator, but it felt like it's all right under his nose. Something is, he was sure of it.

All of a sudden, his phone vibrated, indicating a text message. He opened the message, hoping its Blair, but all he could see is another Gossip Girl blast he couldn't care less about. Just when he was about to ignore the message and sway into deep thoughts, he caught Louis's picture from the corner of his eye.

"Spotted – Louis Grimaldi, charming prince of Monaco in the precious land of Britain, holding the hand of the way-too-young Danish princess. Blair Waldorf who? Xoxo."

Problem solved.

Did it really?