AN: This chapter was so hard to write because everyone gave so many opinions about what kind of story this should be that I got lost writing it. So I just had to take a break and come back to it when I knew where I wanted it to go for now. I hope you all enjoy it.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed. It means a lot xo

Kissing Frogs and Catching Princes

Dedicated to ever-faithful and loyal GG shippers and fans out there.

x~X~x

Chapter 4: Into The Lion's Den

"I won't bite."

Yet that is exactly what she did, warm alluring eyes gazing up at Dan Humphrey with an air of cheekiness as Serena van Der Wooden flopped onto the bed of the upstairs room that they had somehow found themselves inside and bit down on her lower lip.

"I know that. I'm just-" he stumbled on his words, the ever-poetic and highly-intelligent writer never experiencing such a thing before. It infuriated him, the way his body fluttered and his brain muddled. What the hell was happening?

"Just?" she challenged him, a smirk sliding across her angelic features as she tilted her head back and allowed her blonde tresses to dance across the satin covers below her, one leg curving up and over the other knee so that they were crossed and on full display. Not that he wouldn't have notice her ever-popular pins had she not had them right in front of him. They were practically their own personality with how famous they were.

"I'm just trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing up here?" Dan answered back, ever pragmatic and straight to the point. His eyes looked confused and his head darted from one wall to the next, taking in the scenery. The room looked like it had come straight out of a magazine. He certainly didn't know which magazine, but he was certain his sister could figure it out within a matter of seconds.

He and Jenny were so absurdly different in every way and yet she was the most important person in his world.

And this world, the weird place he had suddenly entered into with the most popular girl in school, was definitely not his. But for some strange reason that he could not fathom, she longed for it to be hers and since he had never been able to say no to his darling sibling, here he was stumbling through the abyss of popularity and poison.

"I asked if you wanted a drink." Serena announced, patting the bed beside her and ushering him to sit. "What is so complicated about that?"

"Um, how about the complete lack of beverages in this room?" Dan replied, sliding to the spot next to her and trying his best to center himself. He cleared his throat and she giggled, melodic like a little girl who had somehow managed to get all the boys in the street to do her bidding. He had no doubt Serena could do the same.

"Okay," she sighed, raising her hands before her in defeat. "You're right. I didn't ask you up here for a drink."

"Then why am I here?"

He was direct and to the point and unlike any boy she had met. Well, some parts of him were the same as the others, like the way he stared at her and the way she responded to the attention. Those things were identical to everything she had ever experienced with a boy. But the nervousness he carried with him – the uncertainty of being around her – that was completely brand new.

"You intrigue me," came the surprising reply, Serena slinking onto one arm and leaning in slightly closer to Dan. She smelt liked flowers in Spring. "And I don't get that from people very often."

"I doubt that very much," Dan replied, swallowing hard as he looked at the beautiful girl before him. There was no way with the hype that surrounded this girl that she would have ever fail to be intrigued by the people that entered her life. Here would have been too many to even make that possible.

"Why?" she asked, turning to face him directly. Her eyes bore into his and he could see her genuine curiosity for his reply, something he'd never expected. What the hell was this night turning into?

"You just seem like the kind of girl who we seen lot of things," Dan replied, coughing slightly to clear his throat as the familiar wave of nervousness entered his body again. Damn, she was so close he could reach out and touch her. "I doubt anything could surprise you these days."

Serena smiled slightly, a touch of sadness entering her eyes as she pulled them away from him. He panicked slightly then, worried he had perhaps said the wrong thing, that deep down he may have heard stories about the way the school's elite carried out their envious lives but that somehow he had been misinformed when it came to her, a girl he had seen but never spent more than five seconds speaking to.

"I'm sorry if what I said has upset you. I honestly didn't mean-"

"You didn't," Serena replied, running her right hand through her enviously-long tresses and leaning backwards on the bed, both palms resting on the soft blankets below. "I'm used to people thinking I'm that kind of girl-"

Oh god, no!" Dan sputtered, the sound of horror in voice enough to make Serena do an about-face and look at him with surprise. "I would never dream of implying that you were some kind of, some kind of, um-"

"Whore?" Serena smiled, his obvious fear at her reply softening the small amount of anger she had previously felt. If only he knew that was what most people thought about her anyway. Serena Van Der Woodsen – beautiful, rich and a total whore!

"I've never seen you that way," Dan immediately replied, swallowing hard as he looked at the blonde goddess before him. Serena stopped for a moment, her eyes glazing over in confusion as Dan spoke to her. Her confusion then in turn confused, the young brooding boy perplexed at how anyone could see Serena as anything other than amazing.

They were so wrong about her. All of them. He knew there was more to her than she let anyone see. He reached out and took her hand, unaware of the pair of eyes that watched them from the door behind.

"I'm genuinely sorry."

"You are the only person I've met that has ever apologized to me for anything," Serena smiled, turning back to him and throwing the full force of her allure in his direction. She looked down at their hands entwined, his soft thumb rubbing against her skin in the most beautiful way. How had this happened so suddenly? She only had to get him up to the room to give Jenny a shot at enjoying the party without Blair's antics and yet here she was, enjoying the company of Jenny's big brother. Dan, a boy who had never even been on her radar. A boy she'd never noticed before and yet he was fast becoming a boy who intrigued her.

And that rarely happened to her. Not with her mundane life.

"Where did you come from, Dan Humphrey?"

"Brooklyn," he replied, his face twitching in pain as he openly chastised himself for his ridiculous reply. She laughed again, enjoying his uncomfortableness around her. The way he looked at her was unlike any way a boy had looked at her before. She liked it, a lot. This party had fast become one of her favorites of the year.

"Dan Humphrey from Brooklyn," Serena cooed, her words sweet like honey as she leaned closer to Dan so that their eyes were directly staring into one another's. "It's nice to meet you."

x~X~x

The party was a raging success. Bodies weaved in and out of one-another in drunken stupor and the music was perfectly fitting for the evening's festivities. Glasses clinked as the alcohol continued to make its rounds around the enviable penthouse and laughter, chatter and idle gossip flowed throughout the abode like wildfire. It was typical Waldorf gathering and it was everything the young fashionista had promised. Yet Blair couldn't enjoy it, chocolate orbs flowing throughout the bodies of her peers with a slight aura of panic as Penelope returned with wide eyes and fear.

"Well?" Blair snapped, brows furrowing as she looked at her minion with distaste. "Where is he?"

"I couldn't find him," Penelope grimaced, clearly uncomfortable as she stood before the school's queen. Rightfully so, Blair was a force to be reckoned with, even on her worst day. The brunette smiled painfully, perfectly white teeth on full display as she leaned forward and wrapped her arm around the girl before her, leaning in close and dragging her by the elbow down the hallway. They weaved in and out of the school's elite, the Waldorf heir ensuring that curious eyes were only met with a smile and plastered calmness. Pulling Penelope into the kitchen, Blair waved off the server that lingered and waited for the door to swing shut behind them, intent eyes staring at a quivering and reluctant girl before her.

"What do you mean, you couldn't find him? The place isn't that big. Do I need to draw you a map?"

"No Blair," Penelope squirmed, biting her lip in panic as the fiery brunette glared down at her. "But I looked everywhere. I looked in every room, on the terrace, in the lobby – I think that maybe, he's gone home?"

Blair swallowed hard and closed her eyes, willing not to lose her cool as the anger and resentment raged within her. Why did this have to be so damn hard? Why did she have to be the one who had to work tirelessly to get what she wanted in life? Everything simply fell into Serena's lap and yet Blair had to fight for it. It was lucky she loved her best friend so much because any normal person would be consumed with jealousy and rage.

"Obviously, I have to do everything myself. Cleary, you're not ready for the responsibility I handed to you."

She clenched her fists together silently, Penelope looking down and taking a slight step back. Intimidation was Blair's most fascinatingly terrifying trait. It's what got her what she wanted and where she needed to be. She strong, smart and cunning and she wasn't going to apologize for it. She just needed people who were smart enough to follow her lead.

When Blair opened her eyes she looked straight at her pathetic excuse for a minion and shooed her away, the young girl's heels clicking across the floor as she darted out of the kitchen with haste. Blair closed her eyes once more and straightened the headband that rested at the top of her head, a long breath exhaling from her lips as she steadied herself.

"Interesting."

Blair jumped at the sudden voice behind her, the velvety-soft tones floating across the air and landing on her ears in a mixture of ecstasy and longing. She turned on the spot and blinked, Chuck leaning against the metallic bench top with a look of intrigue splattered across his features. In his hand he held a sandwich, his fingers perfectly wrapped around the bread and exposing the silver ring that adorned his finger.

Blair looked at him indignantly, turning her body so that her svelte legs were on full display as motioned with her eyes at the sandwich in his hand.

"A sandwich? That is your choice of snack with everything else that is available tonight?" Chuck pushed himself off the bench and stepped towards her, Blair's eyes indignant as she tried her best to put on her strongest front. She heard he liked a challenge and she could be his biggest one yet.

"I had the munchies," he cooed, sliding up before her and looking down into her eyes. "I always had a thing for truffle oil." He leaned in closer still, his breath warm on Blair's neck. She felt a thrill race through her, the hairs all over her body sticking up on end. "It's strong, delicious."

Chuck smiled as she stood there, immobilized with uncertainty. He loved this part about women, the way they trembled in his wake. It gave him a rush, a euphoric dash of adrenalin like a lion closing in on its prey. Blair Waldorf would be his greatest victory yet.

"Dressing up sandwich with truffle oil doesn't change the fact that it's bread." She turned and looked at him then, a fire in her eyes that he hadn't seen before. She was defying him? This was different for the famous Bass and somehow he found himself drawn into a sparring match with the least likely of opponents.

"Interesting."

"Yes," Blair replied, a small smile of accomplishment rippling across her face as she looked at him. He could smell the Chanel that traipsed her skin, the scent invading his senses and working its magic on his groin. Exactly as she had no doubt intended. "I am."

He knew what she thought of him, Nathaniel couldn't have been more obvious of the fact as he mumbled his way through Chuck's need to be at this particular party this evening. He had humored his friend simply because they had known each other since they were kids and their fathers were long friends. He hadn't expected much else from the night's festivities. Blair was known to be a power-hungry socialite and he had seen so many of those in his lifetime. Hell, he had bedded more than half of them. But something about her was different. That evening she had pulled out all the stops to impress him and yet when they were alone she was anything but flattering and attentive. She was defiant, strong and fierce.

And he enjoyed the hell out of it.

""So tell me," Chuck reached out and brushed Blair's hair behind her cheek, his hand falling down to rest on her creamy, exposed shoulder. "When are we going to get to the part where you invite me to your room?"

Blair swallowed hard and looked down at his hand on her left shoulder. She could feel his thumb tracing circles on her skin, warm to the touch.

"How about half-past never?" Blair announced, sliding his hand off of her shoulder and staring at him coldly. She raised her eyebrows, seemingly bored from his offer. This wasn't how they were going to be. This wasn't what she had pictured. Chuck Bass was going to see her as a viable companion, not a one-night-stand he could add to the little black book he kept in his side drawer.

"Come now, Blair," Chuck replied, smiling down upon her and hitting her with the full weight of his charm. She bit her bottom lip and his smile widened at the move, internally congratulating himself on being so persuasive. "We both know this is what you wanted."

Blair smiled and reached up, her lips closing in on his as he closed his eyes. Her hand slid down to his chest, landing there so that she could feel his heat beating beneath the silken fabric that adorned it. His breath felt warm as she came closer and it took all her strength not to give into him right then and there.

But she was Blair Waldorf. She was the queen of Constance, the heir of Waldport designs and the socialite goddess of the Upper East Side. She was nobody's conquest.

Nobody, not even Chuck Bass, was going to change that.

"If that's what you really think," Blair breathed, her lips touching his cheek in the smallest and briefest of kisses. "You're not as smart and charming as I thought you were. Interesting."

With that she turned on her wine-infused heels, Louboutins melodically clicking the tiles beneath as she walked away from him. Chuck smiled as he opened his eyes and watched her leave, her small glance back at him revealing a devilish smirk as he nodded his head in approval. She was definitely not who he expected her to be and it excited him. He had thought boarding the plane that coming back and being home would be as boring and mundane as when he had left it, but meeting Blair had just gone to show that appearances could be deceiving.

And Charles Bass loved a good game of deceit.

Game on, Blair Waldorf!

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