Chapter Three: Debate Because It's Over

Blair took a few steps in to the apartment, gazing around. As much as she would hate to admit it, it was nice and not as tacky as she would've hoped. There were tons of pictures on the wall, most of them with Corinne or Chuck, but there were a couple with Haleigh, who looked happier than ever in all of them. It was strange for Blair to see Chuck in photos, seeing as when they were in high school he used to despise them. He snapped at most people who pointed a camera in his direction, and in the rare occasion that he let them take a picture, he would still never smile.

She continued to walk down the hallway, until she passed through the entry way that lead in to living room and kitchen area. Chuck was seated at the bar, drinking something that Blair could only assume was scotch.

"You realize it's two in the afternoon, don't you, Bass?" she asked. "A bit early to start drinking."

He turned to look at her, and rolled his eyes. "Figured I should prepare myself for whatever you want," he replied. "Would you like something to drink? Or is this going to be one of your short visits?"

"Oh, it's certainly a short visit," she assured him. She moved over to the bar and sat down, watching as he finished the rest of the scotch.

"Blair, what do you want?" he groaned. It was hard for him to put up an act that said he didn't care when her eyes were burning in to them like that.

"I want to know why you're back in town. You were supposed to leave for good," Blair hissed. She frowned as he let out a short laugh.

"Come on. I couldn't stay away forever. It's been eight years. Can't you get over it yet?" he asked. "I have, and I don't understand why you wouldn't be able to."

"You're over it because you're not the one who was screwed, Chuck. Do you know how fucked up you made everything?" she snapped, slowly going from her talking voice to her yelling voice that he knew so well.

"You knew what you were getting yourself in to. I didn't force you to do anything. It was bull shit that you made me leave in the first place. My daughter deserves to live in New York City. I couldn't stand the West Coast, and I thought it was ridiculous to let you control me from across the country. Get fucking used to me being here, Blair. I'm not leaving again," he told her, now clenching his jaw.

She shook her head from side to side, unable to believe what a jerk he was. So much for being different like Serena had said. He seemed like the same old Chuck Bass to her.

"Just when I thought you couldn't get any worse," Blair scoffed, getting up and smoothing out her jacket.

"Did you honestly think that you were going to get me to leave again? I may have been easy the first time, but things change," he said, following her example and standing up as well.

"After what you did to me? Yes, I did. I thought you'd realize how awful you were, and that it would be best if I was left alone, because even after eight years, it hurts. Nobody forgets about being hurt that much." They stood in front of each other, staring in to each other's eyes and Blair thought that she saw something inside of Chuck break.

He stuffed his hands in to his pockets and let out another loud and frustrated groan. "What do you want for me? I can't leave New York. It's my home. I already told you a million times how sorry I am. I didn't mean for things to work out the way that they did."

"I just hope you realize that you hurt me, and unless you leave, I'm going to find a way to hurt you too. You know how I enjoy my revenge. It was the thing we always had in common," she said, turning around. "Bye, Bass," she called out as she walked down the picture-coated hallway once again. Haleigh's big smiles didn't seem so intimidating anymore.


Nine Years Ago


Chuck watched her from where he lay on the bed, his arms folded behind his head. She was hurrying to get dressed, muttering to herself in the process. If Chuck was supposed to go to work that day, he would've been doing the exact same thing, except his muttering would be a hell of a lot louder and he wouldn't be reminding himself of what he had to do, he'd just be flat out swearing. Thank God, he didn't have to go to work, though. He got to relax all day long.

"Where's my thong?" she groaned at him, getting down on her hands and knees to look under the bed.

He raised an eyebrow at her and then looked around the room. "You were wearing one?" he asked, partly just because he didn't remember her wearing one, and partly because he was Chuck Bass and being perverted was his 'thing'.

"You think I wasn't wearing anything? God, that's so 2007," she said, finally retrieving what she was looking for from under the bed.

He shrugged, watching as she pulled it on underneath her skirt. "I wasn't paying much attention to what you were wearing. I was more concentrated on trying to get it off," he told her.

She laughed and rolled her eyes at him as she moved over to the side of the bed he was laying on. Leaning down, she kissed his lips gently.

"What should I tell people when they ask why my hair is all messed up?" she asked, placing one of her hands on his shoulder.

"That your husband happened to grab you after your shower and we had rough, yet equally passionate wake-up sex." Chuck wrapped his hand around her wrist and went to pull her down again before she slapped it away.

"Come on. You know I have to go to work. We'll... have some more fun when I'm done for the day," she promised.

She began to walk from the room, but stopped briefly in the doorway. He stretched his arms above his head before noticing that she had stopped.

"Oh, right. I love you, Natalia," he told her once he realized that was what she was waiting for.

She turned her head and flashed him a weak smile. "See, that wasn't too hard, was it?" she asked, though it was quite obviously rhetorical.

With that, she left the room, her head held high, and her dark bra showing through her shirt. Normally, Chuck would be polite enough to tell her about it and warn her about what people may think of her, but he figured that just today, it would be suitable for his wife to be called a slut behind her back.


Chuck yawned as he lifted his fist and knocked on the door a couple of times. It was around lunch time, and most people would be grabbing something from their fridge or going out to get something to eat, but he had other plans. His wife tried calling him once or twice, but he hit the ignore button and allowed it to go to his voice mail. Her messages to him just said 'Hey baby, I'm on my lunch break. What're you doing?', give or take some frustrated sighs. Now, his phone was completely off, seeing as he didn't feel like having to press 'ignore' any more. Perhaps Natalia would finally catch the hint that he wasn't going to answer it.

It took a few seconds for the door to be opened and for Chuck to be pulled inside, the door slammed shut behind him. He forced out a laugh as he rubbed his neck, since he had been pulled in by his collar.

"Nobody is out there, you know. You don't have to be so..." He searched for the right word for how she was being. "Forceful. There's a time and a place for that, Blair."

"Forgive me if I didn't want any of Natalia's friends to see you," she said, making sure to mock Chuck's wife by saying her name in the heavy Spanish accent that she possessed.

Chuck grinned, placing his hands low on her hips. Her paranoia was worse than his, but he assumed that was because he was used to doing this sort of sneaking around. Blair still insisted that if they could get caught in high school, they could get caught now. He figured that he should probably tell her the only reason everyone found out in high school was because he texted Gossip Girl, but it was so long ago that it hardly mattered any more.

"Please. They think she's the whore in the relationship, not me. If they expected anyone to be having an affair, it would be her," he assured Blair.

She let out a deep, relieved sigh and put her hand on his neck, rubbing it gently.

"Sorry for hurting your neck," she apologized, pursing her lips in to a fake pout.

"I think I can manage to forgive you," he teased. "Only if you promise not to do it again."

"Oh, I promise," she said in a low voice, taking a few steps backwards in the direction of the living room.

Chuck followed slowly, his eyes connected with hers the entire time. He pushed her down on to the sofa once they were in the living room, settling down on top of her. It was Blair's first instinct to wrap her legs around him and press a soft kiss on his lips. The kiss grew deeper while Chuck's hands roamed her body, and Blair pulled him closer. He broke the kiss after a couple of moments, smiling down at her.

"Did you know that I never thought it was possible for a woman to be so beautiful in a pair of jeans and an old shirt?" he whispered, sliding his thumbs underneath the waistband of her jeans.

She smiled back at him as her arms circled around his neck. He was sweet and amazing to her, but deep down, he knew that she wasn't completely happy with all aspects of their relationship, if you could even call it that.

"You're not looking too bad yourself, Bass," she giggled as she shifted her hips against him.

Their eyes connected again, and Chuck swore that he saw a hint of sadness in Blair's. She chewed on her bottom lip, the corners of it turning up in a weak smile.

"I love you," she said softly.

"I love you too," he replied without hesitation.

It felt nice not having to say it just because he was expected to, but because he actually meant it.