Blair rolled over reaching for Chuck in her early morning haze. She expected to feel his warm back under her hand but she only hit empty sheets. She rocketed up, no longer tired. "Chuck? Chuck?" she gripped her blanket around herself. Had it been a dream? Bart dying? Chuck leaving? Jack… she gripped her stomach as it curdled at the memory of his rough mouth, tearing hands, her silent screams. She ran to her bathroom vomiting into her toilet. She sat up rocking back on her heels and Chuck's hand gripped her to steady her. She looked up to see his damp hair and towel wrapped body leaning over her.

"Blair? Are you ok?" He knelt next to her stroking her back. "I'm right here, right here." She looked up at him.

"I… I thought you were gone. When I woke up and the bed was empty I-"

"No, of course not, I just wanted to take a shower. I was feeling really gross after the plane and the taxi and- Never mind, are you ok?"

"Yes. I'm fine, I just… I'm fine." She sat up looking at him. "Let's get out of my bathroom." She brushed her teeth hastily and followed to stand and walked back into her bedroom. Chuck watched her each movement.

"Blair I thought you stopped doing that." He sat beside her looking at the floor.

"Doing what?"

"Making yourself…" he looked at the bathroom door then back at her. "Is it because of... me?"

"NO! I'm not making myself… I just felt sick because of-"she stopped herself looking down biting her tongue resolutely. 'I will not think about what he did to me.', she thought to herself.

"Who hurt you?" said Chuck pulling her face up to his.

"I didn't say anything." She said looking up at his concerned face.

"You don't have to Blair." He looked down at her bruised pale body. "What happened?" he gently stroked one of the few spaces on her body not marked by Jack's hands.

"Nothing." She tried to pull his sheet over her and turned away. The motion only revealed her scratched and bite marked back.

"Oh my- Blair… I... tell me what happened. Now." He tried to turn her around as softly as he could but there was nowhere that didn't make her flinch.

"I- I needed to get you home. I had to do anything I could to help. You could have been hurt or… I had to help-"she mumbled nothing quite coherent just a nonlinear stream of thoughts. "He said he knew where you were and I had to do anything I could."

"Who knew where I was? What did he make you- what did he do to you? Did he threaten you did he- Who did it?"

"He didn't force himself on me, then I could have tried to fight it later. He made me fight for everything he did to me. Made me beg for him to bite me, beg to scratch, to pull on my hair, to tear at me, to get on my knees and-"

"WHO did it?" Chuck said shaking her. "Who did this to you?"

"Jack said he could get you home. He said the only way he would get you home was if I let him- let him-"Blair ran to the bathroom vomiting again, her tiny body convulsing with the effort of trying to expel the memory of what Jack had done to her, what she'd done to him. She brushed her teeth again and looked back up at Chuck. He hadn't moved since Jack's name had crossed her lips. "Chuck? I... I'm sorry. I know that I shouldn't have, but I didn't know how else to get you home and he said he knew and-"she began to cry silently. She knelt in front of him at his knees gripping his hands. "And I don't care if you hate me now and never want to see me again because what I did was sick. I know it was sick but I did it for you and if that means you're safe but you hate me that's fine because-"

"Blair. Blair. Blair!" he pulled her up to her knees shaking her into silence. She looked up at him fear in her eyes flinching for the next blow verbal or physical at this point she couldn't be sure. She relished his hands on her again it had been so long since she'd felt him. The memory of her dream almost made her knees go out as she looked at his strong eyes and firm jaw. "Are you ok?" he said stroking her battered cheek.

"What?" said Blair convinced she was dreaming again.

"Are you ok? Do you need a doctor or-"he said looking over her in a new way she wasn't used to. Chuck had always admired Blair's body, the way her cool exterior concealed the girl he knew she could be. He had enjoyed taking the Queen. But this was new. This was different. He looked over her with care, concern and almost panic. She looked to the side into his full length mirror. She did fall into Chuck then. Since Jack had come to her room she hadn't been able to look herself in the mirror. Now that she saw herself she realized why Chuck had been looking at her. She was unrecognizable even to herself. Her neck was covered in bruises and teeth marks. Her arms were tinged yellow with bruises and scratches. Her legs were covered with rug burn and gouges from her bed. She looked closer and saw a bruise that clearly showed Jack's hand across her ribcage. She gasped and Chuck turned her away. "Don't look Blair."

"Why don't you hate me?" She said looking down at herself finding a new mark with every glance.

"Don't look at them Blair." He lifted her chin up to his face. "Why would I hate you?"

"You hated me when you left, on the day of your fathers funeral." She looked at him finding it difficult to maintain eye contact. "You couldn't even tell me you were leaving, you left a NOTE! And now I let your uncle have his way with me like some common whore. Why wouldn't you hate me?" she said the tears sliding down her face.

"Because I care about you Blair. You took care of me when everyone turned there back on me."

"What about Jack?"

"I don't care. You obviously didn't want to or enjoy it."

"To say the least."

"And you did that for me." He said pulling her hair back. "To save me."

"I had to Chuck."

"Why? Why did you have to do that for me?"

"Because I care about you Chuck." Blair now stared at the floor.

"Is that all?" Blair looked up at Chuck. She pulled away from him throwing on a robe.

"No." she said turning away from him, pulling back her hair.

"No what?" said Chuck walking after her trying to catch her arm.

"I'm not gonna say it so you can say too bad and walk away again and leave me like this again!" she opened her robe showing her broken body again.

"Blair I was messed up then I was-"

"No you were fucking cruel! You know how I feel, how I've felt about you for months now. And what do we do? We play these stupid games. But theres a time to stop playing and straighten up and say it. And you couldn't. You threw in back in my face and you left me. You left us, your family, your friends all of us. But you left me. You LEFT ME. YOU LEFT ME!"

With each word she pounded on his chest screaming louder and louder. She finally collapsed into him sobbing. He held to her not sure what to do next. He didn't want to hold her, she looked as though the briefest brush would shatter her. But to leave her alone, that's what had caused all this. He stepped towards her his hand touching her shoulder. She looked up at him. "Why couldn't you just say it? I know that's how you feel. You've told Nate. And even if he hadn't I would know."

"Blair I-"

Then Jack came through the door.