A/N: I ma so pleased how everyone is faring with this fic. I was really afraid it was too AU or OOC but all the reviews I have been getting have been exemplary. That being said, I'm sure all of you will really enjoy this chapter ;)

Summary: Age difference almost seemed non-existent. But he was walking towards her and her own legs reacted accordingly. She never remembered being susceptible to anything like this before. Chuck Bass was nothing. She could never care for someone who wasn't worth her. But for some reason, he made her react.

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. All characters are taken to make my own story. And thanks to suspensegirl for the beta ;)

"Are we going to talk about this?"

Blair sat at her vanity, expertly applied her mascara as her brother stood at the door.

"About what?" Blair asked. "Your insistence that I accompany you to this party—"

"You know what, Blair," Tyler said.

She refused to meet his eyes.

"Don't shut me out," Tyler said, walking fully into the room. "Not me."

"I didn't realize you had taken up your best friend's tendency to eavesdrop," Blair said sharply.

"I didn't have to," Tyler replied. "Upper West Siders could hear you."

"Those bottom dwellers would relish the gossip," Blair replied, standing up.

"Blair."

"Now I don't have to worry just about the intimate details of my private life being aired to the entirety of Manhattan, but your blood brother blackmailing me as well."

"What are you talking about?" Tyler asked in disbelief. "Chuck?"

"Of course Chuck," Blair snapped. "He would love to watch me fall. He's probably going to announce it at his New Year's party tonight."

"He wouldn't do that."

"Why?"

"Because I asked him not to," Tyler said.

"So he was going to ruin me."

"No," Tyler said. "But Chuck is Chuck."

"That's just another way of saying that he's a backstabbing, narcissistic—"

"You?" Tyler asked with a smile.

"You dragging me to his bacchanal is enough," Blair said. "I don't want to have to defend myself against your partner in crime at the same time."

"I'm not dragging you," Tyler said. "I coerced you. There's a difference. And you know you would go anyway, if only to defend me against my partner in crime."

"I better not get bored," Blair warned as she grabbed her purse.

"I wouldn't count on it."

She headed for the door before realizing he hadn't followed.

"You know he didn't mean it," Tyler finally spoke up. "What he said the other night—"

"Okay."

"Blair."

"Tyler," she said mockingly.

"You can talk to me."

"About what?" she asked. "Are we suddenly going to purge our souls to each other?"

"Why not?"

"Because we don't do that," she said. "And the very fact that you think your weasel of a friend could hurt me is quite insulting."

"I didn't mean that," he replied. "I just meant that if you ever needed to talk about something, if you ever feel stressed, you could talk to me."

"Tyler," she said succinctly. "We don't do that."

For the first time, he knew there was something vastly wrong with it all.

"I know."

"I didn't realize you were bringing a chaperon."

"You're discriminating against guests now?"

Chuck and Tyler conversed easily through the monotonous roar of the party. They stood at the bar of the van der Woodsen penthouse, observing the guests. But both of their eyes were centered only on one thing.

"You know she's not here because she wants to have fun," Chuck said, watching Blair float from group to group with such practiced grace, all with a martini glass in her hand.

"That's not fair."

"Why?" Chuck asked. "The last time she tried to have fun was two years ago. As your chaperon again, I might add."

"At your burlesque club," Tyler noted. "How eerily familiar."

"I'm building a business under the radar," Chuck said. "The likes of your uptight sister won't stop it. She's only here to watch you anyway."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"That she can't let you live your own life?"

"You're getting oddly out of sorts over this," Tyler remarked.

"You said so yourself," Chuck said. "She doesn't want to be here. I'm surprised the Ice Queen even let you come."

"She's my body guard. Though that's more for her benefit that mine," Tyler said. "She doesn't want her reputation sullied."

"By being at a party thrown by Chuck Bass without an excuse?" he sneered.

"By being at one full of high schoolers."

"Everyone is here," Chuck said.

"Almost everyone."

"Meaning?"

"I couldn't help but notice a blonde sister of yours is missing," Tyler said casually.

"And whose fault is that?"

"Please," Tyler retorted. "You've found more entertainment out of that one confrontation than you have the entire vacation."

"Your sister is strangely…" Chuck said, "provocative."

He felt Tyler's dark eyes on him.

"Not in the way you mean," Tyler said.

"No," Chuck said. "Never that."

"I heard you."

She was walking on the landing before turning to face him, seemingly almost bored with him.

"Are you expecting a congratulations?"

"Just because my parties have a sense of—"

"Degradation?" Blair asked smartly.

"That doesn't stop your screaming matches from escaping my room."

"Was that your room?" Blair asked calmly, looking behind her. "Your dirty girl scout painting wasn't a complete tip off."

"You conveniently found your way into my room to make a phone call?"

"I thought you said they were screaming matches," Blair said coolly.

"It's still my room."

"It's still my business," Blair said, brushing past him.

"Not when it involves my family, it isn't."

Blair stopped abruptly.

"I haven't seen Serena around anywhere," Chuck said. "She was supposed to come back from school for vacation."

"What would I have to do with that?"

"Does this denial thing usually work in your favor?" Chuck asked. "Everyone knows something happened at school between the two of you. It's just a question of what."

"You're fishing," Blair said.

"If only you hadn't humiliated her and exiled her from your house for the world to see," Chuck said. "Maybe you'd be more convincing."

"Maybe not everyone is obsessed with me as you are," Blair replied.

"You wish."

"Oh no," Blair said before taking her leave. "You wish."

"I didn't realize self delusion was a symptom of another catfight with my sister," Chuck spat. Blair smiled patronizingly. He hated how young she made him feel.

"Your sister is exactly the problem."

"I don't see how."

"I don't expect you to understand familial dynamics," Blair said. "I told you what involving yourself with my brother would do."

"I like him," Chuck said.

"You're using him."

"For what?" Chuck asked. "To get closer to you?"

"To make you feel better about yourself." But even as she said it, his words haunted her. It was the first thing that came to her mind. And the worst part was it didn't even strike her as strange.

She remembered when they used to ride around in his limo together. She remembered him stealing single malt from the Captain's library. But now, it almost seemed like another life. Another person. That wasn't the Chuck Bass that was standing before her. This was Chuck Bass, her little brother's best friend.

But he was looking at her like he could see right through her.

She hated him.

"I'm not one for self improvement," Chuck drawled.

"But you are one for destruction," she replied. "You may be able to spar with me, but that's a given."

"We used to be friends," he reminded her. "You can't change chemistry like that."

"The past doesn't matter."

He was sure she said it hastier than she would have liked.

"He's my little brother," Blair said. "My priority is protecting him."

"I guess I can't understand that."

"You seem to be protecting Serena pretty well," Blair said coldly.

"In what way?"

"I don't see her anywhere around here."

"That's more your doing than mine, I'm sure."

He felt her. He felt something about her so strongly that he knew Tyler didn't feel.

He couldn't.

Tyler couldn't feel the heat, the anxiety, and the fear.

For some reason, Chuck felt it all. Suddenly, he could feel something,

For some reason, when she looked upon him—down upon him—he felt something that he had never felt before. He felt like something was coming and no matter how hard his tone bit, how the cruel things he tried to cut her with, something wasn't right.

Something was odd.

She made him feel small and irrelevant. No one else could claim that.

She was dangerous. The only person in his life he had ever been afraid of was his father.

Blair provided a new kind of fear. He wasn't afraid of her. He was afraid of what was happening to him every time he looked at her. He was afraid she was affecting him in a way that he couldn't control.

It wasn't familiar. He didn't know what it was. But he knew it was bad. He knew it was threatening.

"Tyler doesn't know."

He stood still for a moment before answering. "What makes you think I do?"

But they both knew.

"Because you just said you did."

If he didn't know, he wouldn't have said anything at all.

"And what makes you think Tyler doesn't know what she did?"

Her expression wavered, but then hardened just as quickly. If she acted so stony about someone who was supposed to be her best friend, he wasn't sure what she would do to him.

He wished he could just get her away from him. She was dark and predatory and he only knew what that looked like because it should have been him.

He knew he was in trouble. She would stare and he would be afraid that she could see as easily into his mind as she could her own.

She was trouble.

He knew that preying on him would be Blair Waldorf's greatest accomplishment. But he also knew he had been staring at her for far too long.

He didn't stare at girls. Not like this. He just took what he wanted.

He hated how easily she broke that mold.

It was uncomfortable and he couldn't find anything else to say. But there was something so intoxicating about it, that he couldn't help himself.

"Stop looking at me like that."

"You are really used to always getting your way," he said evenly. "Well you won't get yours with me, princess."

"You think you know what I want?"

"I know you want Nathaniel to stop calling you," Chuck observed. "Why is that?"

"Why are you so interested in him?" Blair asked. "No one has ever said 'no' to you either, have they? You're just upset there's one person that doesn't like you."

"No one likes me. Starting with you," he replied. "That never surprised me."

"Tyler likes you," she pointed out.

"He's the only one."

"Don't ask questions about my relationship," Blair backtracked. "You're my little brother's best friend. We wouldn't even interact otherwise."

"You never know," Chuck mentioned. "You and I could have had an unbreakable bond had circumstances been different."

"Well we don't now," Blair replied. "And I'd appreciate you keeping a leash on your stepsister. I'd hate to get infected with her promiscuity."

"Beautiful and mean," he murmured. "Chilling. You know I wouldn't mind you getting infected."

"Run through all your whores already?"

"Funny how you immediately jumped to that topic of conversation."

"Your conquests?"

Chuck turned to whisper in her ear. "My sexual appetite."

Blair shoved him away. "I don't think that it's funny at all."

"What was that about?"

Tyler looked at Chuck expectantly as he came down the stairs. Chuck followed his gaze to see Blair in the higher level.

"You know, don't you?" Chuck asked.

"Why do you care so much?"

"I don't know."

Tyler narrowed his eyes. They both knew that he was speaking the truth.

He really didn't know.

"Don't wrack your brain contemplating," Tyler said. "She doesn't want you to know anyway."

"Know what?"

Tyler shot him a look. "You know."

"I just said I didn't."

"You know about Serena and Blair."

"Alright," Chuck said admittedly. "Why does Blair want to destroy her best friend?"

Tyler didn't answer.

"You're really not going to tell me?" Chuck asked. "We're best friends."

"I'm not even supposed to know."

"Then why do you?"

"I'm her little brother," Tyler smiled. "It's what I do."

"I don't know about Serena's private life," Chuck mentioned.

"You're lucky," Tyler said. "Then you'd have to pick a side. And we both know how fond you are of my sister."

"Very amusing," Chuck replied. "I don't want to pick a side. It doesn't matter to me. I'm not getting in the middle."

"You see my sister as this tyrannical monarch," Tyler says. "But the real reason she's doing this is because how hurt she is."

"And what is she doing?" Chuck asked.

"I thought you weren't getting in the middle."

"I can't help but be curious."

"Blair's fragile," Tyler said. "She puts on a show, but Nate's indifference just hurts her. Along with Serena."

"Or your mother's," Chuck said.

"What does that mean?"

"Blair's strong," Chuck said. "Just because she hurts doesn't mean she'll break."

"Was that a compliment?"

"It's the truth," Chuck said. "Just what I've observed."

"Including my mother?"

"Including that."

"You don't know—"

"The only reason she's condescending to even listen to Nate right now is to appease your mother."

"Nate's here?"

"Not yet."

He always seemed to be there. It was the one thing she despised about him. She was sure she despised everything. She should.

He was always there. He was always listening, always knowing, always lurking. Hanging up on Nate repeatedly was starting to lose its luster.

Chuck Bass staring at her knowingly wasn't helping her.

"That went well."

"Aren't you bored already?"

"Interestingly enough, your melodrama proves for a very entertaining vacation."

"You're lucky I don't take Tyler home right now," Blair threatened.

"I didn't realize you were so maternal."

"Only to the person who matters."

"He doesn't need you protecting him."

"He doesn't need you at all."

"Why do you put up with it?"

Blair fell silent at his question, understanding that this didn't have to do with Nate at all. He knew this. He knew this sparring, this battle. He knew what it was like to seethe and hate.

For some reason he knew her. And he knew she wasn't antagonistic for just any reason.

"With what?" she asked softly.

"Are we really going to play that game?"

"Are you really going to keep being invasive?" Blair asked. "What is it to you?"

"Curiosity," Chuck replied. "Don't you think you deserve better?"

"Why do you care?" she asked. "You hate me."

"I didn't say I thought you deserved better," Chuck said. "I was just wondering if you did."

"I deserve whatever I get."

She wondered why it was easy to be so honest with him and yet so difficult. But he was smirking and leaning back against a door and it was the first time she realized they were standing right in front of his bedroom.

She couldn't recall wanting to be in this position or even being aware of its conception. But he was smirking and she couldn't help the feeling that even though it didn't seem planned, he was very pleased with himself.

His fist turned around the handle, leaning back so the door opened. He took a step back into the darkness of the room. His face was partially shadowed and she almost took a step forward.

But she knew this. She knew all the tricks. And for some reason, it seemed that Chuck wanted to compromise her in some way.

"What's the matter, princess?" he asked. "You scared?"

"Scared?" she repeated scornfully. "Of you?"

"You look pale suddenly," Chuck replied. "Afraid to enter my lair?"

"There is nothing about you that could ever frighten me," Blair replied. "You should be asking yourself why you want me here to begin with.

"You've been in here before."

"Why do you want me to?"

"Curiosity."

To be honest, she wanted to play this game too.

He had stepped back completely into the room where he was completely shrouded in darkness.

Though not intimidated, she was intrigued.

There was something about him that was beckoning her and she couldn't figure out how she had arrived here.

Before she could even consider what she was doing, she placed a high-heeled foot daintily across the threshold.

"Again I ask," Blair breathed into the darkness, "what makes you so intrigued with me?"

"Narcissism," he said without hesitation.

"You and I are nothing alike."

"Then why are you alone in the dark with me?" Chuck asked. "You could be with your boyfriend."

"If I wanted it."

"What is it that you want?"

Blair knew this wasn't just any ordinary game. She hated to admit it, but with him, it was like playing with fire. She could never give him that much validation, but there was something about this that she couldn't help but feel dangerous.

"You're just a child," she said succinctly, examining the space by only the light of the moon. "Hardly worth the trouble."

"We're only six months apart," he reminded her. "If the grade cut-off was different we'd be in the same class. And to what trouble are you referring to, exactly?"

"Beating you off my brother with a stick," Blair said.

"That is true," Chuck said. "If I wasn't a danger, you wouldn't bother."

"Taking that as a compliment, are you?" Blair asked. "Maybe we could have been closer in another life. But we're not. As chance would have it, you happen to be less than nothing. So my personal business shouldn't be a part of yours."

Even so, her insults meant nothing. He just smirked into the darkness, knowing that though she couldn't see it, he knew she could feel it.

"If I'm such a child," he drawled, "then why am I the one who knows your private life?"

"Because you're an eavesdropper."

"I prefer observant."

They always seemed to gravitate towards each other in the most peculiar fashion, even in the darkness. She felt the warmth of him, again not able to understand exactly what was going on. If the lights were on she would be able to determine the exact hue of his exotically slanting eyes.

It was the strangest thing about him. She saw them, his deeply penetrating eyes with the most unique hue of darkness. Even now, she found herself craning her neck to look into them.

Age difference almost seemed non-existent. But he was walking towards her and her own legs reacted accordingly. She never remembered being susceptible to anything like this before. Chuck Bass was nothing. She could never care for someone who wasn't worth her. But for some reason, he made her react.

The painting above his bed was familiar.

"My brother is your best friend," she said softly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" his voice grated into the night. His hot breath brushed against her lips so she could smell the distinct odor of scotch.

She didn't hate it.

That should have been one of many alerts to tell her to move.

But she didn't leave.

"You really don't think I wouldn't tell him if you tried anything with me, do you?"

He laughed. It wasn't so much a laugh at her sudden proclamation as surprise.

"And you're so convinced that I'm hot for you."

"You're hot for everyone," Blair replied snidely.

"Not everyone looked the way you did at the opening of Victrola." She hadn't been expecting it. She hadn't expected him to bend to her ear, whispering huskily even though they were the only two in the room.

"That was two years ago," Blair said.

"Does Tyler know that you're a masked devil?"

"Does he know that you are?" Blair spat back.

"I suppose I'm not as expert as you are in the art of disguise."

"Just an expert of debauchery."

"And yet here you are. What would your precious Nathaniel say about that?"

For once, she didn't think about it. For once, she didn't feel the least bit bad about it.

"He's not here," Blair said, wondering how her tone had turned so sultry.

"Why haven't you broken up with him yet?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

It was the strangest thing. Their antagonism had suddenly taken on a threatening flirtatious quality.

And she wasn't stopping.

She just told him the truth instead.

"I'd rather humiliate him instead," she whispered in his ear.

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

It had been pre-ordained.

That was what she was sure of. There could be no other explanation why she suddenly wrapped her arms around him, pressing her lips against his fervently.

And he stopped.

She felt a sudden fearful jolt rip through her body at the thought of being rejected by Chuck Bass.

But then it was over.

His hesitation was gone in an instant, and she felt his dresser digging into her back.

There were no words.

There was just the vindication that this had to happen.

She pushed him back on his own bed, him already halfway out of his clothes, her with her dress strewn across his floor.

He was caught between the surreal and ecstasy, unaware how he had gotten into a place he never thought he would be. Blair Waldorf was on top of him, kissing him with such ferocity he never knew was quite possible.

It ignited something in him. He had never felt this before, this fire. She was beautiful and she was mean and he loved every second of it.

Her hair was black in the moonlight, waving towards the bed as they moved together.

The door wasn't locked. Her brother—his best friend—was downstairs.

Blair Waldorf was naked and on top of him.

And all he could do was pant and groan her name.