Thanks for all the great reviews and encouragement guys! As you can see, thanks to your support I am continuing, and, if I stick to my plan for the rest of the story, will probably be writing another six chapters to properly finish it off.

The first two weeks of rehearsals were, for most of the cast at least, rather dull and uneventful following the initial meeting to discuss characterisation and the plot of the play. The debate over whether Christine should end up with Raoul or the Phantom at the musical's conclusion had only begun that afternoon's heated exchanges. First Penelope had unsuccessfully argued that her character, Carlotta, should be given additional lines and an extra solo to perform, in order for her persona to be fully appreciated by the audience. (This was met with a catty, patronising smile from Blair.) Then Dan Humphrey, who was playing one of the managers of the theatre, insisted on questioning his motivation for every single scene, despite the repeated groans of the rest of his cast mates, including his girlfriend Serena. (Blair had eventually threatened to give him an excellent motivation for never coming to school again if he didn't shut up.) Finally, Chuck had argued that the whole show should be given a modern interpretation and set in a burlesque club rather than an opera house. Hazel, along with most of the St Judes' half of the cast, had seconded this idea, envisioning the sexy, skimpy numbers she and the rest of the girls in the chorus would get to wear. (They had all received death glares from the show's leading lady.) Shrieking in horror at the notion of committing such sacrilege against Andrew Lloyd Webber's masterpiece, Spencer had dismissed the cast for the day, informing them that for the next two weeks they would be working individually with a vocal coach in order to learn their songs before rehearsals proper started.

No one on the cast had therefore had much interaction with each other during this preliminary training. Serena and Blair were getting used to just quickly flashing each other bright smiles as they passed each other in the hall while one shouted 'Sorry, I've got to go and...', while the other responded 'Yeah, me too'. They were keeping in contact mainly via text messages. Serena felt this situation was hardly ideal, given her resolution to keep an eye on Blair and monitor the progress of the whole Chuck thing. She wasn't exactly sure how to characterise what the 'thing' was, though sometimes the word mess, or fiasco sprang to mind. Serena still did not trust her soon-to-be stepbrother. But between school, spending time with Dan and singing rehearsals, she did not have much time to devote to worrying about the potential dramas B might be creating in her own life.

Nate was disappointed that so far the musical had failed to offer much opportunity for access to Blair, who he was still hoping he could win back with a little charm and persuasion. Or maybe a lot, he ruefully acknowledged, as she determinedly avoided him when he tried to corner her. He approached her several times to suggest they get together to run lines, but she was always too busy to meet up. Nate wondered how she could possibly be learning her part, given that her schedule seemed to have her occupied every damn night, unless she was just making excuses to avoid spending time with him. If she was, he was not sure whether to interpret that as a good or bad sign. It would be good if it meant that she still had feelings for him and was therefore worried about being around him, but it would obviously be bad if she didn't want to see him because she simply didn't want to see him. Nate watched her sometimes at school, trying to pick up some clues from her manner about what she was feeling. But all Nate could tell was that most of the time she seemed to be distracted and not particularly involved in the conversations going on around her, maybe because she was constantly having to answer the incessant stream of text messages that seemed to relentlessly buzz on her phone. Nate had tried to catch up with Chuck several times too, hoping that he could help him make sense of all this weird behaviour, but Chuck was also hard to track down these days.

Chuck and Blair may have had more time to devote to their respective best friends if, in addition to their individual rehearsals with the vocal coach, they weren't spending almost every moment of their free time in private rehearsals with each other. Although some of these so-called 'rehearsals' were merely a euphemism for sex, at Blair's insistence they really were spending much of their evenings and weekends working on their songs together. Blair had demanded Chuck help her by practising their duets, and he also played the piano for her while she prepared her solos.

Chuck had been made to learn the piano as a child because Chuck's mother believed that every true gentleman should be musical. And even though she had died not long after Chuck's birth, Bart Bass still considered her commands sacred. Therefore, Chuck had been subjected to piano lessons three times a week since he was four. Not wanting to disappoint either his father, or the wishes of the dead mother he idolized, Chuck had diligently applied himself until he could play to the level of any concert professional. But after Chuck's father had simply eyed him coldly every time he had enthusiastically played for Bart whilst a child, Chuck had stopped giving public performances or even playing for private audiences. These days few of his friends even remembered that he could play. But naturally Blair Waldorf had never forgotten his childhood talent.

Blair never forgot anything, a trait that had helped enable her rise as queen. Being able to instantaneously drag out an old rumour or piece of juicy information from the recesses of her mind when provoked was a definite advantage when battling with her bitchy underlings. However, the reason Blair remembered Chuck's childish concerts so vividly was that it was the first time she had realised the commonalities they both shared. Chuck's performances were often staged in collaboration with Nate, Blair and Serena – Nate usually juggling or performing some act of physical skill, Blair and Serena dancing or reciting a poem together.

Nate's mother and father were always there to see these recitals, as was Lily, when she wasn't off overseas with her latest boyfriend. Harold was often there too, and for that Blair was extremely grateful. Blair's mother and Chuck's father were the most infrequent attendees, both always begging off for business reasons, even when they had previously promised to be there. Chuck would sometimes go up to Blair and squeeze her hand in a gesture of solidarity as they realised that, yet again, their parents would be unable to make it. Not that having them there was really anymore comforting. When Eleanor did manage to come, she would always purse her lips at the end of the presentation and say something like 'very nice, but Blair you should watch Serena more closely next time and try to copy her graceful movements' or 'Blair, your reading would have been lovely if you learned to open your mouth up more and read more slowly, like Serena'. Bart never said anything to Chuck critical or otherwise, normally simply nodding to him at the end of the show and reminding him that he would be flying to Zurich or some such place early the next morning. Bitterness over the fact they both had such disappointingly unappreciative parents had burned the memory of Chuck's vivid and haunting piano performances indelibly into Blair's brain.

So Blair cajoled Chuck into learning the entire score from 'Phantom' to help her, and himself, as they practised their numbers in her apartment. She had been impressed that he still played so well, and touched by his admission that he had kept it up so as to continue to accord with his mother's gentlemanly ideal. Watching as Chuck's handsome face scowled intensely at the sheet music as his fingers flew over the keys, his jacket removed to allow freedom of movement but his ascot still perfectly knotted, Blair couldn't help but agree with the late Misty Bass's sentiments.

For his part, Chuck was surprised when he first heard the captivating quality of Blair's voice. He couldn't recall ever having heard her sing before. He had naturally assumed that Blair could sing reasonably well when she won the lead role in the musical, but as it was only a high school performance the competition wasn't exactly fierce. However, listening to her sing had literally been a breathtaking experience, her tones alluringly rich and sensual. Chuck was surprised that such a commanding voice could inhabit such a petite frame. Maybe that was why when she sang the music seemed to pour out not only from her mouth but her whole body, quivering and shooting out from her face, her chest, her arms, her very fingertips. It made him even more in awe of her, though of course he didn't admit that. But after a few teasing refusals, he had willingly started to agree to rehearse with her whenever she wanted, eager to continue spending time with her. For despite Blair's determination to maintain an unyieldingly serious, even somewhat manic, attitude towards perfecting her performance, with Chuck around she found it impossible not to relax, to laugh and joke and teasingly touch each other as they learned their numbers.

Sometimes they did not even sing songs from the show. Just as the two had always shared a love of classic films (though Chuck preferred old film noirs to Blair's Hepburn romances), vintage clothes and old-fashioned cocktails, both Chuck and Blair had an affinity with old jazz that Nate and Serena had never been able to fathom. So, egged on by Chuck, Blair would often end their sessions by huskily crooning her favourites. Chuck greatly appreciated these sultry performances, given with Blair perched cross-legged on the piano and smiling benignly down at him as his fingers danced across the keys. When she had punctuated her performance of 'Fever' by lazily running her fingers through his hair, licking her lips and crossing and uncrossing her legs, he had become so aroused he had had to abruptly end the performance to sweep her into his arms and onto a nearby couch.

It was only after two weeks that Blair finally rehearsed the number 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' for the first time. Although she had been learning the song with the vocal coach, she had been reluctant to perform it in front of Chuck. To Blair, the poignant melody about Christine's continuing grief since her father's demise was the most moving in the entire musical. Its sentiments echoed with her profoundly, stirring up emotions about the loss of her own father, not to death, but to a young male model in France. She was therefore unwilling to sing it before Chuck or anyone else until she could be sure she had her feelings sufficiently in check that this chink of vulnerability in her normally impenetrable armour of bitchy indifference would not show.

Nevertheless, as soon as Blair began to sing Chuck noticed the hesitant note in her voice. Normally she would make eye contact with him whilst singing, but today she was resolutely avoiding his gaze as she sang the opening stanza:

You were once
my one companion . . .
you were all
that mattered . . .
You were once
a friend and father -
then my world
was shattered . . .

Blair's memory could not help but drift back to the moment when her perfect world had first been shattered, when her father had announced that he and her mother would be separating and that, by the way, he'd be leaving the very next day for France to live with Roman, that man from Thanksgiving dinner. The bitterness that filled her mouth as she remembered the anguish of losing the one parent who had been a real companion to her in her home life, rather than a sporadic, often critical, visitor, seemed to strangle Blair's voice. Chuck could see the pain twisting Blair's face.


Wishing you were
somehow here again . . .
wishing you were
somehow near . . .
Sometimes it seemed
if I just dreamed,
somehow you would
be here . . .

But no matter how hard Blair had wished for it, had dreamed he would be there when she woke up, her father had not returned, except for brief, flying visits.


Wishing I could
hear your voice again . . .
knowing that I
never would . . .
Dreaming of you
won't help me to do
all that you dreamed
I could . . .

Realising eventually that her father would not be coming back, and that the person she had relied upon to be her rock, her unceasing source of support, her grounding force was gone forever, Blair had discarded the gentler, or as she saw it weaker, components of her personality. She had focused all her energy on becoming queen in Serena's absence, knowing she had to be strong for herself now. She couldn't rely on anyone, no matter what they said, what promises they made. Her father, Serena, Nate – they had all said they loved her, but they had all abandoned her.

Too many years
fighting back tears . . .
Why can't the past
just die . . .?

Blair's voice broke into a sob on the last word, as she wished that she could put the past, and all it contained, behind her. She would have kept singing, but Chuck had stopped playing, taking her hand gently, concerned by this sudden emotional outburst. He wanted to comfort her, but as he did not have much experience at either comforting or being comforted, he was unsure what to do.

"What's wrong, Blair?" he asked softly, praying it wasn't anything to do with him, that she wasn't about to end their relationship.

She looked at him teary-eyed, but her voice was dismissive. "The song just upsets me all right," she snapped. "A lot of people get very emotional listening to such expressive music. Those of us who have emotions that is."

Chuck's eyes narrowed but he did not rise to the bait, immediately intuiting the truth behind Blair's defensiveness now she had confessed the source of her sadness was the song. "Does it remind you of your father's leaving?" he questioned, steadfastly staring into her eyes so that he'd know if she was lying.

Blair sighed sullenly under his intense scrutiny. "Yes," she confessed grudgingly. Chuck said nothing, but tenderly kissed the side of her forehead.

"It reminds me of how alone I was after he left," Blair admitted. "How alone I still sometimes am...and it makes me think about more than just him...about all the people that have left me."

Chuck's sympathy immediately turned to jealousy and he dropped her hand. "So that's it is it? It makes you wish you could go running back into the arms of your precious prince charming, even if his crown isn't so shiny after screwing your best friend!" he bit out harshly.

Blair's eyes locked on his in fury. "No, it makes me wonder where I got this amazing talent for surrounding myself with people that hurt me," she cried, her tone clearly indicating that she included him in that group. "It makes me think about how not only my father, but also Serena and Nate, basically the most important people in my life, have all let me down at one time or another."

Chuck immediately felt remorseful for lashing out at Blair and failing so miserably in his lousy attempt to comfort her. Of course Blair couldn't simply forget the pain that Nate caused her just because she was with Chuck now. As much as he might like to be able to erase the memories of the many years she had spent with his best friend from her mind, and his own for that matter, it wasn't going to happen. And picking fights with her was tantamount to throwing her into Nathaniel's lap, as it was inevitable that without Chuck to keep them apart Blair would eventually find out that Nate wanted her back and return to him.

"I'm sorry," Chuck said. Blair's mouth relaxed out of its angry frown, but her body remained tense. Chuck wrapped his arms around her. "Just for the record, I've never left you," he breathed tenderly in Blair's ear as her tight posture loosened.

Blair felt her heart start to beat faster at his words. Because it was true that, out of everyone in her life, Chuck was the one that had never abandoned her, had never let her down. And he had been there for her when the others had gone – first her father, then Serena and finally Nate. Of course, some might say he'd been a little too there for her when she broke up with her boyfriend, considering they had slept together about twenty minutes after it happened. But still, he'd given her what she had wanted at the time. And even after she had pushed him away the next morning, he'd been there the following night. With diamonds. So it was only natural that Blair's heartbeat became a little erratic around him sometimes, that she had started to get a warm glow in her stomach that felt remarkably like hope whenever she thought of him. It scared her. Because just because he'd never left her, never hurt her, didn't mean that he never would. She'd never thought that Nathaniel, or Serena, or her father would ever hurt her either. Blair therefore listened when the cold voice inside her head whispered that she should do her best to stamp out that glow.

She pulled slowly out of the arms. "Well it should also be on the record that I don't believe in prince charmings anymore," she told him with a sarcastic smirk.

Chuck rolled his eyes. "So the girl who has been telling me since we were five years old how she was going to make her life into a perfect fairy tale doesn't plan to include a prince charming anymore? How are you going to write your 'happily ever after' without one? Though I suppose you could always have a princess charming," Chuck drawled suggestively.

Blair slapped his chest. "No, I think that sounds like your happily ever after actually. But as it happens I'm not really a fan of fairy tales anymore, either."

Chuck stared at Blair. Everyone who knew her, knew Blair Waldorf loved fairytales. Every Halloween during childhood had seen her dressed as a different fairytale princess – Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, the little Mermaid and, of course, her favourite, Snow White. It was incomprehensible that she had stopped believing in fairy tales simply because Nathaniel Archibald was no longer set to star in the role of her prince charming.

"Waldorf, how can you expect me to believe that you don't believe in fairy tales? It's unfathomable."

Blair smiled sadly. "It's not. It's just what happens when the father who read you the fairy tales as a kid, who first taught you to believe in them, turns out not to be the perfect father and husband you thought he was and runs off to France with another man. They were my proof, Chuck. I thought I could have this wonderful fairy tale life because that's what I believed my parents had. But it was all a lie. Since then I've realised how tedious all those stories are anyway."

She looked so wounded; Chuck longed to put his arms around her. But her voice was cool, her manner slightly scornful of her former naiveté. Chuck knew it was his cue to change the subject, ignore the pain of the beautifully vulnerable girl beside him, because it was something he was not meant to be acknowledge existed.

"Well, I was never one for sappy sentiment myself. Not that I've been exposed to much. I don't think I actually know any fairy tales."

Blair laughed, "Chuck, I know you pride yourself on being the epitome of Upper East Side cynicism, but even you must at least know some fairy tales, irrespective of whether you ever actually liked them. You can't expect me to believe you came into the world sipping scotch, smoking cigars and curling your lip at the folly of other, lesser mortals." She reached out to smilingly pinch his cheek. "Even the great Chuck Bass must once have been just a cute little kid who heard the same stories even parents in Brooklyn read their children at bedtime."

Chuck grinned at her suddenly playful mood but shook his head. "Big Bad Bart wasn't exactly the bedtime story reading type. And I guess the nanny didn't get paid overtime to stay and do it. Given what I remember about her impressive rack I'm guessing Bart didn't hire her for her maternal qualities."

Chuck's tone was light and unconcerned but Blair was horrified. Whatever his faults, her father had been there for her as a child. Would still be there for her now, if she really needed him. He might not be perfect, but she didn't doubt that he loved her. It seemed that Chuck had never had that security. While Blair had always known that Chuck had a troubled relationship with his father, she had never realised the extent of their disconnection and Bart's seeming lack of interest in his own son. Chuck had never really offered specific details on the rare occasions when he would talk about his family life to her or Nathaniel. Living on the UES, Blair was used to stories of less than idyllic parenting techniques within homes where the adults were too busy making money, getting divorced, getting high or getting laid to worry what their children might be up to. But she could not comprehend how anyone could be so unloving, so distant, to their own child that they could not even take the time to read them an occasional bedtime story.

"Chuck, I'm so sorry," Blair breathed, placing a hand on his arm and biting her lip. "Never hearing a single fairy tale..."

"I probably wouldn't have liked them anyway," Chuck cut her off quickly. Chuck Bass wasn't a sob story. "And why should I regret anything in my childhood, when it helped make me the stupendous being I am today?"

"You mean making you such a charmingly modest, self-effacing individual," Blair teased sweetly, whilst considering the truth to Chuck's words. Not hearing fairytales as a child had undoubtedly helped foster his cynical pragmatism. She could benefit from such an approach to life.

"But maybe you're right," Blair said thoughtfully. "Listening to them certainly didn't do me any good. Maybe if I'd never heard any, I wouldn't find myself crying over a song from a stupid musical." Blair turned to Chuck, a fierce look on her face as she continued, "I'm going to make sure that I never cry over something so idiotic again. From now on, I command myself not to believe in fairy tales. I command myself to be a realist. I command myself to be like you."

Chuck experienced unease at Blair's words. Blair was like him, in so many ways, and he loved that. However, he also loved that, in other ways, she was so different from him. So innocent, so fiery, capable of such depth of emotion. He didn't want her to be like him – jaded, cold, unfeeling. Unhappy. She thought becoming like that would prevent anyone from hurting her again, but Chuck knew a new type of pain, new misery, would just take its place. He couldn't let that happen, not to Blair. He needed Blair Waldorf to believe in fairy tales. He needed to be able to smile at her light-hearted, confident assurance that, whatever the trials along the way, eventually she would have her 'happily ever after', just like every other fairy tale princess.

Chuck sat back down on the piano stool. Blair was still standing, leaning back casually against the piano's keyboard. "That's too bad," Chuck drawled, his hands reaching up to lightly caress Blair's sides. "Because I happen to have just remembered one fairy tale I do know. One I'm sure you've never heard, but definitely ought to believe in."

"I know all the fairy tales," Blair dismissed haughtily.

"Not this one," Chuck disagreed assuredly, a challenge in his voice. Blair hated it when anyone claimed to know anything that she didn't, no matter how trivial.

"Fine," Blair said, rolling her eyes. "Let's hear it."

"I forget how these things always start off," Chuck teased.

"Once upon a time," Blair told him impatiently.

"Right, well, once upon a time, there was a beautiful queen who lived with an extremely rich king in an enchanted kingdom," Chuck began.

"What was it called?" Blair interrupted.

"Manhattan," Chuck smirked. Blair smiled as he confirmed her suspicion that he was making this story up, just for her. Of course, to them Manhattan always would be something of a magical kingdom. It was their natural environment and, more than Nate or Serena, they lived and breathed the spirit of the elite city.

"Anyway, between his money and her beauty, the king and queen were very happy. They were even more happy when they discovered that they were to have a child, a little prince who, once he had properly trained of course, would take over the running of the kingdom. But when the queen came to give birth to the boy, she fell very sick. She fell so sick, she died. The king was also blighted by grief. And between his mother's death and his father's sorrow, a terrible curse was placed on the new prince."

Chuck paused for dramatic effect and to survey Blair's reaction. He could hardly believe that he was doing this, was telling her this. But the thought had occurred to him in an instant and without even thinking about it the words had started pouring from his mouth. Now he found he could not stop. It was such a relief to unburden himself to another for once. To admit he felt cursed. While part of him feared Blair seeing his weakness, pretending it was all a fairy tale provided the distance he needed to keep going. And she wasn't pulling away with shock or uneasiness, but was watching him steadily with a sort of sad wonder.

"The curse meant that the prince could never enjoy anything around him. He had everything, everything the kingdom had to offer, but he took little pleasure from it. He saw great sights, but could not appreciate their beauty. He tasted the finest food, but experienced none of its flavour. He listened to exquisite music, but took no joy in its delights. He felt nothing. For him, it seemed like every day was destined to be as dull as the next," he paused again to smile at her.

"The prince was resigned to this fact until one day a lovely princess appeared before him. When she danced for him, his eyes seemed to open and suddenly he could see her magnificence. All the world seemed brighter. Then later, as he was giving her a ride home in his carriage, she kissed him, and she tasted delicious. Everything around him seemed to become more appetizing. When finally she sang for him, it was as if his ears worked for the first time and he was enthralled by her beautiful voice. Every noise he heard after that sounded sweeter. The curse was broken."

Blair stared at Chuck. Chuck Bass a romantic! Who knew? But now she did, and that was all that mattered. Blair's heart was beating out of control and the glow inside her had built to a steady fire as she listened to his story.

"You're right," she said, leaning down to kiss him. "That is a fairy tale worth believing in." Chuck grinned and kept massaging the sides of her stomach in small, lazy circles as he sat in front of her while she rested against the piano.

"So, you like my voice, huh?" Blair questioned a little breathlessly, as the feel of Chuck's fingers started to make her skin tingle electrically.

"Mmm. Especially when you're sitting on top of that piano, and singing straight at me. Amazingly sexy," he drawled, his fingers moving inward to brush down the centre of her stomach.

"I like it," her breath caught as his fingers fluttered over her belly button and he smirked, "when you play the piano," she continued.

"Why?" Chuck asked, as he flicked open some of the middle buttons of her blouse, and began to kiss the delicate skin of her stomach.

"Watching your fingers flying across the keys...agile...assured...like they know exactly what to do...it turns me on," Blair whispered. Oh God, she could never have said these sorts of things to Nate.

"You're attracted to my fingers," Chuck asked amusedly. Blair shrugged, embarrassed.

Not content with this response, Chuck dipped the digits in question beneath her skirt, rubbing them against her budding clit through her moistening panties. "Are you?" he demanded.

"Ye...Yes!" Blair cried, as he roughly stroked her faster and faster. To show his appreciation for her honesty, Chuck slipped his fingers underneath her underwear. His eyes rolled back into his head a little as he felt how hot and wet she was for him already. Christ, she was incredible.

Now needing some relief of his own Chuck abruptly stood up and pushed her backwards into the piano, so she was sitting on the keys. He pulled her panties from her legs before rubbing his groin into her core. Blair moaned in satisfaction.

"What else do you like?" Chuck asked roughly, unbuttoning the rest of her blouse.

"You," Blair responded breathily, the point in between her legs beginning to throb harder as she felt how big and hard Chuck was even through the material of his pants.

"Doing what?" Chuck demanded, grinding into her further.

"Touching me...touching my breasts," Blair moaned. Chuck obligingly reached out and, pushing up her bra, began to palm her breasts, flicking and twinging her hardening nipples.

Blair reached out to cup his crotch, caressing him through his pants. It felt so good, but Chuck knew he needed to be released from his tightening clothing. As if reading his mind, Blair undid his zipper, pulling down first his trousers then his underwear. Grabbing him once again, she began to tug on him with both fists. Chuck sucked in his breath, then let out a groan.

"Do you like this?" Blair taunted archly, turning his own game back on him.

"It feels so good. You're just so good," Chuck murmured, before capturing her lips in a heated, open-mouthed kiss. When it ended, his head descended to lick and torment her nipples while her fingers fluttered around his balls. They weren't even properly undressed yet, but Chuck knew he couldn't last much longer. His trousers were still around his ankles, while Blair's blouse was unbuttoned and her skirt bunched around her waist, her legs spread wide to reveal her dripping wet sex.

"Blair," Chuck growled. "I need to be inside you, now! Do you want to move over to the couch?" He didn't want her to be uncomfortable.

"Nno, no," Blair whimpered. "It will take too long. I want you to take me right here, right now."

If possible, Chuck was even more aroused by Blair's words, her enthusiasm. Blair's ferocious protection (until recently) of her V-card status had led some at school to label her frigid. Chuck marvelled at the thought, knowing Blair was quickly emerging as the most passionate lover he had ever been with. Eager to please and be pleased. He didn't know how he had gotten so lucky.

With a grunt of satisfaction, he thrust deep inside of her in one long stroke, pushing her back into the piano's headboard. Blair let out a deep moan, curling her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He captured her mouth for another kiss before he began thrusting again, harder and faster, until he felt her body quiver against his, and he could finally achieve his own release.

They remained there for a moment, dazed, breathless, eyes unfocused. Then they heard the elevator ding and Blair hissed in panic, "My mother's coming home today". It was convenient that they hadn't removed more of their clothes, because Chuck had only just tugged up his pant zip and Blair had only just smoothed her hair down when her mother walked into the room.

Both Blair and Chuck felt freed by their afternoon rehearsal, closer due to the confessions they shared. Blair also found that from then on she was able to sing 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' without being overwhelmed by the song's emotion. Having exorcised her demons, simply by revealing them to Chuck, she was able to instead harness the feelings the melody inspired in her, and use them to enhance her performance. She was ready to begin staging the scenes with the rest of the cast the following week.

So I wanted to use this chapter to develop some of the sweetness of the CB relationship before starting on the drama of the CBN triangle in earnest. Let me know what you thought!