A/N: First let me apologize for taking so long to update! I love writing this but I was lacking the necessary inspiration to do it justice. Also keeping busy with life, college, and working with other authors. I want to thank Chairytale944 who has been amazingly supportive through this process.
So here goes chapter 4, I hope I do it justice. Please review!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Blair went through different emotions when she first went through the file. Her first reaction was shock. She was so stunned by what the contents meant that she couldn't form an actual sentence.
As her mind pieced the situation together, she became angry. She remembered Chuck's party, and what "Serena" had done. How she had tried to out their secret affair for her own vendetta. Now it was clear. Jenny Humphrey.
That name alone made her skin crawl. She remembered how betrayed she felt when she realized Chuck had slept with her right before their reconciliation in the spring. Even since that terrible night, her hatred for Jenny grew stronger.
Public humiliation, exile, social destruction, blackmail, corruption. There was little they wouldn't do when it came to scheming. But this was much bigger than anything else they had ever been up against. Jenny Humphrey, the vengeful social-climber; Vanessa Abrams, the judgemental hippy and Juliet Sharpe, the penniless nobody.
As individuals, they were harmless. But they had one common goal: revenge.
Whether it was against Blair or Serena, they all had motives to attempt payback. It became clear to Blair what had happened, how their plan had been set.
Chuck noticed the glimmer in her eyes. "Blair, what are you thinking about?" He knew that look all too well. It was the look she wore every time they schemed.
"Remember, the ballet night." Chuck cocked his eyebrow, of course he remembered, the night they went from hate-sex to so much more. "Oh, I remember. After the ballet…" He drawled, smirking.
"Not that, Focus!" Blair deadpanned as she slapped his arm. "Taking down Juliet, drowning memory sticks in Champagne, saving Serena's reputation… Any of that ring a bell?"
"Yes, it does. And Vanessa is there. Do you think…" Chuck was coming to the same conclusion she had.
"Contacted my arch nemesis to retaliate? Yes. Think about it! There's one thing in common those bitches have in common, apart from being fortuneless skanks. And that's hating Serena and me. Juliet has been trying to ruin Serena since day one in Columbia. Vanessa hates Serena for what happened with Dan last spring. And Jenny, well enough said." The hate Blair felt towards the blonde Brooklynite hadn't died down in the slightest. Her name alone made her stomach churn.
"So, what's the plan?" Chuck knew better than to bring up that sensitive topic. Blair and him would eventually hash things out, but now was not the time; they had pressing matters to handle.
"I'm all schemed out right now, "Blair drawled as she traced his arm deliberately before staring into his eyes. His loving gaze mirrored her own. "And I was kind of hoping you would kiss me already. It's been a long day, and not quite the Thanksgiving I was planning on."
Chuck leaned in to kiss his girlfriend. They had been so absorbed by their discovery that they hadn't taken time to greet each other properly. "I missed you." Blair whispered against his lips. She felt Chuck's grip around her tighten. She brought her hand to the back of his head, where she grabbed his hair.
Breaking the kiss, Chuck stared lovingly at Blair and simply breathed "I missed you too."
Taking her hand he stood up, signalling her to follow suit and he kissed her again, before picking her up and taking her to his room.
An hour later, after thoroughly making love to each other; Blair and Chuck were curled up in bed, with her head against his chest. She loved hearing his heartbeat, in perfect rhythm with his soft breathing. She sighed contentedly before breaking the comfortable silence they had been in.
"Chuck," Blair began to speak. She wanted to make sure he was awake before she carried on. "Yes Blair?"
"I'm so happy to be here. With you." The raw sincerity in her voice made his heart swell. He felt the same way, he was happy they were both being so open about their feelings. After last spring, he went through such despair; he never fathomed they would be here again. And the night of his party, when they had admitted to their feelings again and she decided she needed to become powerful, alone, his heart broke. He had sworn they would find their way back. Albeit, he didn't think it would happen on the same night.
"I love you, Blair. Always have, always will. And I love being here too, with you in my arms; where you should be, but it might be time to start hatching a plan to take down those trolls, don't you think?"
"You're right, I guess I just wanted to pretend the world had ended for a while." Chuck kissed her deeply and got up. "I'll go get us some coffee, we're going to need it. Why don't you get dressed and join me." Before she had the chance to respond, Chuck had left the room.
"So let's see, what do we know?" Blair decided they might as well list everything they knew in order to come up with a plan.
"We know Jenny and Juliet dressed exactly like Serena. Jenny pulled the curtain on us, and Juliet kissed Nate and Dan.
"Well, nothing exactly scandalous there. But it's what happened next. They manipulated the situation so everyone would turn against her. They even got Vanessa to hand in an application on S' behalf. And look at these photos." Blair handed a stack of shots from the file to Chuck.
Sieving through them, he saw what looked like a stumbling Serena. He had seen her in a similar state enough times over the years to know that this was not her being merely drunk. She had taken drugs. Against her will.
His P.I. had been known to work fast and efficiently, but the material they had here would certainly facilitate the process of taking down their opponents. There was a receipt for prescription drugs under J. Sharpe.
"And look at this shot," Before she could finish the elevator chimed. They both lifted their heads to see who it was.
Blair should have known from the smell of low-rate desperate smell. But it was only at the sight of the bleach blonde "hair" that she realized Jenny Humphrey was standing in Chuck's suite. A painful thought came straight to her mind. The only thing she could think about was the fact that the last that whore had been here, she slept with Chuck.
It was still a sore subject for her, even though she had decided to get back together with Chuck. She stood up, marched towards her, and slapped her in the face.
If Chuck hadn't been so angry knowing that Jenny had participated in his Sister's awful endeavour, he would have smirked at the sight of his girlfriend, the love of his life, slapping the Brooklyn trash.
"What the hell are you doing here? Have I not made it clear that I don't want you here? Not only do you return to Manhattan, but you come here to Chuck's hotel." Blair was furious, she hadn't work through all her anger and hate towards Jenny. And the knowledge that she had recently tried to come between Chuck and her once again didn't help matters.
"What do you want Jenny?!" Blair was determined not to let her mask slip. The little troll was obviously her for a reason, she needed to know why.
"I have something to tell you, Blair. It's about Serena." She was speaking slowly, but Blair just wanted her to get to the point for heaven's sake!
"Let's talk about that! We know what you and your little friends did. Kissing Nate and Dan? Even I didn't think you would sink that low. And what about the curtain? Don't get me started on what you did to Serena!" As she spoke, she carefully studied Jenny's expression. If there was one thing she knew how to do, was read people. Jenny was wearing that little-innocent-girl-face she wore when she claimed she was sorry.
"It was Juliet! She drugged Serena. I had nothing to do with that!" She was obviously trying to defend herself. Blair wasn't buying it, she needed more information in order to be convinced.
"Sorry little J, but I have difficulty believing anything coming out of that lying mouth of yours."
"I'll admit I sent the texts to Dan and Nate, and I pulled the curtain, but I want never do anything to hurt Serena that way! You have to believe me."
"Well, can you at least tell us where you friend Juliet is?" Blair wasn't backing down, she wasn't about to let everything Jenny had done slide.
"She's gone, her apartment's empty."
"Well isn't that convenient! How did this happen anyway. And don't you dare lie to me." Blair started pacing around the suite. That wasn't going to help matters at all.
"It began last week, I was in Hudson. Juliet and Vanessa video-chatted me, after you took Juliet down. She wanted revenge, and Vanessa was only too happy to follow her lead. They went on and on about how they always lost against Serena, and that she got away with everything. They asked for my help. I had no idea what she was really up to, but I wanted my own" She was cut off by Blair who had figured out Jenny's reaction.
"Retribution, perhaps? Towards Serena and Me." Jenny looked down at her shoes, before lifting her eyes up again to Blair, and nodded.
"Listen Blair, I know it was wrong to come back. You were right in banishing me, I never thought things would go this far. I'm sorry, for everything." Neither of them having anything left to say, she made her way to the elevator. Moments later, she was gone, for good Blair thought hopefully.
Chuck had decided to let Blair deal with Jenny. He was wise enough to know interfering was not a good idea. Blair and he hadn't started working through their issues yet. Right after their reconciliation, they had found out about Serena. It had left very little time to talk about them. He knew that it would come out eventually. But he was enjoying the little quality time he got with Blair.
After a few moments, Chuck decided to speak up. They had been sitting in awkward silence for a while now. Neither of them had brought up the events of the previous spring. And though that was the root of the problem, a lot had happened since. The fact that he had moved on had caused Blair a great deal of pain; even if she refused to admit it at the time. In all honesty, they had pretty much avoided all the painful topics and focused on getting reacquainted with one another.
Chuck was many things. Naïve wasn't one them. He was well aware of the fact that he was going to have to work hard in order to earn Blair's forgiveness, as well as her trust.
"Blair, are you ok?" He winced as he realized her mask was still perfectly in place. He feared he was going to have to deal with bitchy-Blair. He hadn't been on the receiving end of Blair's wrath since getting back together with her. It was one thing when he was supposed to hate her, and could say anything without the fear of upsetting her. But having Blair upset when they had been open about their feelings was an entirely different matter.
She turned to smile at him, but there was no fooling Chuck. He recognized the fake smile plastered across her perfect features.
"I just need some air. I'm going for a walk, I need to clear my head." Before he had a chance to object, she grabbed her handbag and put her coat on. She gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before heading to the elevator.
Chuck sighed heavily as the doors closed. He would give her a couple of hours to clear her head. Surely she would return before then. He knew she needed her space after seeing Jenny. But the possibility that the confrontation would make her reconsider her decision made his stomach churn. They had gone through a back and forth phase in their relationship, but it belonged in the past. There was no doubt for him, Blair was the love of his life. He would fight for her, like she had fought for him so hard.
As Blair exited the Empire, she went to the closest bakery she could find to purchase a generous loaf of bread. Afterwards, she made her way to the duck pond in central park. She was in desperate need of relaxation and decided that feeding the ducks would be the best therapy for her current predicament.
The sight of Jenny in Chuck's penthouse had affected her in a way she hadn't expected. She had seen Jenny since the spring, and each time her blood boiled with anger. But this was different, it had really upset her. Images she hadn't even thought about came to life in her mind. Picturing Chuck and Jenny together not only made her sick to her stomach, but shattered her heart into a million pieces.
It killed her to imagine them together. Had it been another faceless bimbo, the situation would have been different. It was Chuck's way of numbing the pain. But sleeping with Jenny, what was the reason behind it? Was she asking questions that didn't have answers?
All these months, she knew it had happened, but the fact that Jenny was away. Far away from her and Chuck, meant that she could easily ignore their issues, if only for a while.
The last few weeks had gone by in a heartbeat. Between Chuck declaring war to Blair after she got rid of Eva, their truce, their affair, being friends again and admitting they were still in love with one another just went to show how much of an emotional rollercoaster they'd been on.
And she had gone back to him, knowing they had a lot of unresolved issues but that she would end up forgiving him anyway. It was easier said than done when she thought about it. Looking past everything he had done wouldn't be easier, it would require a lot of work.
Although she had made the decision to forgive for the hotel trade, and meet him at the Empire State Building, she knew she wasn't even close to forgiving him for what he'd done. The fact that he'd slept with Jenny so quickly after the time-frame for his ultimatum had run out made it so much harder to bare.
The situation was too familiar. It reminded her of that night she had given herself to him after breaking up with Nate. Jenny had lost her virginity to him too. Deep down, that was one of the things that killed her the most.
Blair knew how Chuck got when he was desperate. He drank and slept around. To him a girl was a girl. It was his way of numbing the pain, drowning his sorrows. It didn't matter to him who it was, but it did to Blair. Picking up a random whore at a bar was different, or calling a hooker. But sleeping with her sworn enemy was an entirely different matter.
Blair had been standing by the pond, absent-mindedly feeding the ducks for a while now. And while her mind had wandered into dangerous places, time hadn't stopped. The crisp November evening was catching up on her and she began to feel chilly.
She reached into her coat pocket to retrieve her cell phone. Chuck had probably left several voicemails by now. She supposed she could at least feel relieved he hadn't sent a search squad to bring her back to the Empire.
She knew she could count on him to give her some space, but he would eventually want her to come back to him. They hadn't fought, and worrying him wouldn't get her anywhere at this point. They were both aware of the fact that communicating was essential at this point. They couldn't really come up with a plan to help Serena until they had dealt with their own issues. They couldn't work as a team until then.
Truthfully, Chuck had been wonderful since they got back together. She had yet to breach the topic that was bound to result in a huge, not to mention, painful argument. She would be fooling herself if she thought not seeing Jenny again would suffice in fixing their relationship instead of dealing with their issues head-on.
Chuck was the love of her life, there was no denying it. Her future would be filled with pink Peonies, purples bowties, red headbands, miniBlairs and littleChucks with drown eyes and dark curly hair. They were each other's future, and fixing their relationship was essential so they could move on to better, happier things.
Blair noticed Chuck had tried to call her 3 times, left her a voicemail and sent her a text. She clicked on her voicemail button to listen to his message.
"Blair, it's me, Chuck. Just come back ok? I love you."
She smiled timidly at the sound of his deep voice filled with vulnerability. Before reading the text he had sent her.
Please come back. I need you. Xo C
She decided it was time. It wasn't a conversation she was looking forward to, but she knew it needed to be dealt with. She just couldn't ignore it any longer. As amazing as living in their bubble of happiness and love was, they really had to face the music now. Everything that had happened needed to be talked about, the hotel trade, sleeping with Jenny, Eva, hating her. Even though she knew now that the latter had been a façade they both wore to conceal their true feelings.
The events of the previous spring were painful enough, but somehow, seeing Chuck prancing his French floozy around Manhattan cut her deeper than she would have thought. Despite her best efforts to get over him, nothing had worked. So she had eventually resorted to her old ways and schemed to get rid of her. All it had taken was a little digging and she had her out of Manhattan and Chuck's life.
She had still been madly in love with Chuck back then, even though she forcefully denied it.
15 minutes later, she was in the elevator on her way to Chuck's penthouse. She used the short ride up to the top of the building to gather her thoughts. It was imperative that she keep it cool, there was no point in storming into the penthouse, yelling at her boyfriend. There would be plenty of yelling as they approached the sensitive subject.
Noticing the elevator came to a stop, she took a deep breath before the door opened.
She walked into the suite, noticing Chuck sitting on the sofa in the living. His head was in his hands, surely prepared for what was to come. She walked over to him, carefully – trying not to startle him.
The sound of her heels clicking on the floor brought him back from where his thoughts had taken him.
"You came back," his voice was shadowed by such relief that her heart broke for him. Did he not believe she was coming back to him?
After everything that they had been through, a brief altercation with Jenny Humphrey wasn't going to be the deal breaker.
"I just needed to clear my head." Chuck merely nodded at her response and walked up to the bar. He mixed her a martini and poured himself a glass of scotch. They could use a drink before talking things out. He walked over to the couch where she was sitting down. He could tell she was nervous as he brought her drink over to her. She accepted it and drank a generous amount of it before setting the glass on the coffee table.
She looked up at Chuck forcefully.
"Chuck, we need to talk." Chuck met her gaze, this was the moment of truth. There was no going back now.
"I know we do, Blair listen. I," Chuck was ready to take everything she would throw at him, no matter how awful she would make it sound. Some of the things he had done were truly unspeakable. He had used her in the worst way possible. Betrayed her in the most humiliating way.
"Me first. Chuck, seeing Jenny. Seeing her here, really bothered me. Just being in the same room as her is bad enough. But having her show up here is just so much worse. Do you have any idea what it's like to see her here knowing that," Blair paused in order to swallow the lump caught in her throat and keep the tears forming in her eyes at bay. Chuck hated seeing her cry, and being the cause of her sorrows made that feeling much worse. A feeling he had sadly experienced far too many times.
Sighing heavily, Blair continued "Knowing that the last time she was here, with you." She was beginning to let it all out. The feelings she had kept bottled up inside, the sadness that had built up for months on end were set free. "You slept with her Chuck. You said you wanted to be with me and then you slept with her. It killed me Chuck."
The tears were falling freely now. As he watched her, he realized just how much he had hurt her. How much pain his despicable actions had caused her. He obviously knew it hurt her to be betrayed by him once again, so soon after their reconciliation. But now he realised the pain ran much deeper than betrayal.
There were so many factors than came into play. He watched her slowly stand up and walk over to the window.
She looked out at the city lights. There was a lost look in her eyes. Gently, Chuck made his way towards her, making sure to keep an appropriate amount of distance. At that moment, Blair really needed her space. The possibility of her flinching at his touch, or even his proximity was too dark a thought for Chuck to bare.
Chuck wanted to say something, but he knew she wasn't done. The silence between them made the tension in the room even heavier. He was debating whether or not to say something, wondering if it would help matters or on the contrary make the situation more complicated than it already was.
Was there anything suitable he could say to defend himself?
That he was drunk, self-loathing, heartbroken – even? Well into a downward spiral? Those were all facts. And if his mind had even had a shred of hope that Blair would show up at his Penthouse that night, he wouldn't have left anything to chance. If there was a possibility in his mind that he could fix things with Blair, of course he wouldn't have gone near Jenny.
But a series of circumstances had led to her ending up at the Empire, in his Penthouse. While the circumstances were unfortunate, nothing excused the fact that he had slept with Jenny.
Turning around slightly, Blair's gaze shifted over to Chuck. She was staring directly into his eyes now, as if she could read the truth in them. The idea wasn't that farfetched, when it came to Blair, he was an open book. He could never hide the real him from the devious brunette.
"I mean why? Why couldn't you have waited!? Did you really give up on me that quickly? You knew I was hurt, I needed time. All you could do was give me an ultimatum!" She was beginning to get angry, but was mostly sad at this point.
She was hurting, she was still holding on to a lot of pain. "Why didn't you fight for me? Do you not love me enough?" Alright, AngryBlair had definitely come out now. He was expecting this and he would deal with this in the best way he could.
"Of course I do, I love you more than anything in the world. Don't you see Blair, you are my world. I can't function without you by my side. I've messed up horribly, I know I should have waited. I've made so many mistakes and I've hurt you so much. And I know this is not an excuse, but I thought I'd lost you forever, if I lost you – I lost everything. I didn't want to face that possibility, so I did what I always do. I got drunk to numb the pain. J- She showed up and I just – she could have been anyone and I'm sorry, god Blair I'm so sorry."
She could tell his eyes were starting to get watery. She knew he regretted his actions from last spring deeply. She remembered the look of sheer relief in his eyes when she had showed up at his Penthouse, declaring her love for him once again.
She really wanted to forgive him, and she would eventually. But she couldn't yet, he needed to prove he was trustworthy and she needed time to heal.
And as he was the one who broke her, he would be the one to fix her. She knew in her heart that Chuck Bass may have broken her heart more times than she cared to remember, he had also made her the happiest she had ever been.
And talking things out was important. He needed to know how much pain she was in. And what she needed above all, answers. There were so many questions left unanswered, regarding not only the night he slept with – Her. But also, the whole debacle with Jack and the Empire, bringing Eva back with him to New York… Everything needed to be clarified so they were on the same page.
And as despicable as trading her for the hotel was, what really bothered her was how she had agreed to go through with the deal, without knowing that he was a part of it.
She let Chuck continue. They were obviously in for a lot night anyway, they would come up with the scheme against Juliette tomorrow.
"Sleeping with her wasn't about hurting you. It wasn't about anyone or anything, I only did it because I was drunk, and desperate without you. There is no reasonable explanation for what I did but there wasn't anything reasonable about me at the time. I had lost you, I was going crazy. Nothing matters in my life if you're not in it. At the time, life or death didn't matter, I was drowning my sorrows in Scotch. She doesn't mean anything to me, never has. You have to believe me." Chuck stared into her eyes, pleadingly.
He moved closer to her, waiting for some kind of response from her. Dreading how she would react to his speech.
To his surprise she grabbed his hand in both her tiny ones. "Of course I believe you Chuck. I know you didn't purposefully hurt me, at least not then." She reassured, adding a weak chuckle.
"I really believe you won't do anything like that to me again, I have to. There's just one thing that still bothers me."
"What is it? you can tell me anything."
"You were going to propose to me, without letting on you had slept with Jenny. How could you expect us to start over if our fresh start was based on a lie."
"I would have told you, I was just so happy when you came back to me - I didn't want to go and ruin it like I always do. Even though I ended up screwing up, once again. I wanted to tell you but I couldn't lose you again."
"I know you panicked Chuck. But you had to have known I would find out eventually. I always do. That's not it though, we still need to talk about what happened before, when we broke up." Blair sighed heavily, this was the worst thing she had ever gone through, the worst thing anyone had ever done to her. She also knew it was the worst thing he had ever done.
When she had told her she would stand by him through anything, the worst thing he had ever done - the darkest thought he's ever had. It had been a tough pill to swallow, but in the end she would return to his side, no matter what it took.
He had been going through a whirlwind of emotions at the time. He had been played by an imposter pretending to be his long lost mother, and his evil uncle had orchestrated the whole thing in order to take the Empire away from him.
She knew how he got when he got lost in his own darkness. She had tried to keep him out of it but in the end she ended up being dragged into the whole mess.
She had done so willingly, without the capital information that Chuck had manipulated her into sleeping with his uncle.
"And just don't get how you could do that to me. How could you be okay with me going through with it, with your uncle, Chuck? You say you love me but you treated me like property." He couldn't miss the hurt in her eyes. She didn't understand, she needed a reason – an explanation for his actions."
"What I did – it's by far the worst thing I ever did. I was so focused on succeeding in my business that I completely lost sight of what was really important. I was blinded by what my father's legacy, what he wanted. I thought I had to be like him, that he would be proud that…"
"That he would have wanted you to go through with it." Blair finished for him.
"But I was wrong, the whole debacle with Elizabeth Fisher made me feel so betrayed. I was lost, I thought I was going to lose everything, but the Empire is not everything. If anything, I would rather get rid of this tainted place now." Chuck admitted, he had been proud of the Empire and when he had purchased the hotel, it was for them. Him and Blair.
"The worst part is, the reason I bought it in the first place was because you believed in me." He looked up shyly to Blair. Everything he had done since then had only gone to show that she wasn't his priority.
"But what you did proved otherwise, how could you sell me like a common whore? I know I played my part in it, but I only did because I love you." She was growing impatient, he was avoiding giving her the real reason behind what he had done. There was something else to the story, it needed to come out.
"Just tell me why, I know there's something you're not telling me. I just want the truth Chuck." She was pleading him now.
"Ok, I'll tell you – Jack kept going on about the fact that he had already had you and it wouldn't be that big of a deal if you slept with him again. He messed with my head, he wouldn't stop talking about that night." The look in Chuck's eyes showed the resentment he still felt towards the events that had taken place two years prior.
"You haven't been able to get passed that, have you?" Blair muttered, her voice laced with annoyance.
"I just don't get how you could have done that, you told me you loved me and I was going through the worst time in my life – I only left to protect you, I couldn't drag you down with me."
"I didn't sleep with him for the fun of it, Chuck!" Blair's voice was rising, how dare he judge her?
"What do you mean, you didn't have to sleep with him. Did he do something to you? What aren't you telling me?" Chuck knew there was a reason she was being defensive, she had never admitted being wrong about her actions. What if there was another reason?
"He didn't force me Chuck, but the reason I didn't have a problem going through the deal I made with him last year is because I had already done it. I think it's time you knew the truth about what happened on New Year's." Blair's voice was trembling. She had kept this a secret for a long time, but maybe coming clean would help them finally move on.
"Blair, I already know what happened. You slept with him, it meant nothing. End of story." Chuck sighed heavily, he really didn't want to hear about Blair sleeping with Jack. It was something he would rather pretend had never happened.
"No Chuck, there's a lot more to the story than you think." Before beginning the story, Blair took a deep breath to give her the courage she needed.
"A couple of weeks after you left, Jack showed up. Obviously trying to get his hands on any business deal Bart had been working on before the accident. He had come up to me a few times, making crude comments – as he does."
"But on New Year's Eve, he was being particularly insistent. He kept going on about the fact that he could easily bring you back to New York, if he was given the appropriate compensation." Blair winced at the last part of her sentence while Chuck watched her intently, waiting for what was to come.
"At the time, I – naively – thought he meant money. I told him to name his price, and he did. He said that – he said if I slept with him, he could easily bring you back. But if I didn't he had the means to make sure you'd never come back to me. So I did what I had to do." A sob escaped from her throat, as the memories from that night came back to her.
"I didn't know what to do, I couldn't lose you like that. I meant what I said that night on the roof at Victrola, Chuck. I can't lose you, I couldn't bare it." She felt Chuck's arms snake around her protectively, rocking her as the sobs escaped from her lips. The tears were falling freely now.
"I'm so sorry, for running away, for last year – for everything. I should never have done what I did. Tell me what I can do to fix this. I'll do anything." Chuck's voice was desperate now. He couldn't believe what Blair had just told him.
He wasn't exactly surprised his uncle had done something like that. He just didn't understand why this was the first he was hearing of this.
"Just don't leave me, okay?" Her voice was barely a whisper, she was relieved to have finally told him what had really happened. He needed to know the truth, about everything.
"I can't leave Blair, you're my whole world." He remembered Paris, seeing her at the station when she had uttered similar words. It wouldn't be my life without you in it. Those words were as true for him as they had been for her when she said them to him.
"I just don't understand why you didn't tell me this, after graduation when the blast came out." He wondered why she hadn't admitted it to him then. It would have changed a lot of things, he might not have jetted off to Europe for a whole week if he had known the truth.
"I couldn't tell you Chuck. I was too ashamed of myself, you've no idea how cheap it made me feel." Her voice was filled with pure sadness, as she recalled that awful night. "That's why it was easier the second time around. It was like Deja-vu. I did it for you, because I love you." She was staring deeply into his eyes now, uttering every word with the purest honesty.
Chuck realised the extent of his rash decision. Involving Blair in getting the Empire back from Jack had without a doubt been the worst thing he had ever done. He didn't deserve such devotion from his angel. He had abused of her love and the mere thought of it made him sick to his stomach.
Setting Blair up to sleep with his uncle for the sole purpose of getting back a piece of property, that was nothing but a reminder of his mistakes, had been the worst mistake he had ever made. Causing her that much pain was a feeling he still struggled to live with.
And now that he knew she had made a similar deal with Jack the previous year made what he had done much worse. She had done it to protect him, when all along he should have been the one protecting her.
He swore to himself he would make it up to her in every way possible. But most importantly, he would do everything in his power to assure she was looked after, and happy. It should have been his main focus from the start.
Talking things out had been good for them. And even though their relationship was a long ways from being repaired, they were on the right track.
They loved each other more than anything in the world, and together they could deal with anything life threw their way; as long as they were a team.
They had another battle to fight, but would deal with that tomorrow.
For now, they would concentrate on their evening together. It had been a trying day for both of them.
Chuck realised they hadn't had anything to eat all day, and decided to call room service. He ordered Blair's favourite meal. Tonight would be all about taking care of her.
The next morning, both lovers got up bright and early. They had to come up with a solid plan to get revenge on Juliet and how her past actions had affected Serena. The girl was obviously evil - disturbed even – but there had to be an explanation for everything she had done.
Blair and Chuck were sitting on the couch in the living room of Chuck's penthouse. The contents of the file provided by Chuck's P.I. were spread out on the coffee table to give them a global view of what they were dealing with.
Blair wouldn't say this out loud, out of pride, but Jenny's intervention had helped them a lot. Who knows how long it could have taken to uncover the real story from that night. Blair still remained sceptical, she knew Jenny wasn't a victim in the scheme – everything she had done was of her own free will.
"So we know Juliet had been attending Columbia for at least a year, as she was already head of Hamilton House last year when my minions were there." Blair started, as they had decided to recap on the information they had.
"She met Nate in the summer before we all came back from Paris and manipulated her way into our lives to my oblivious best friend." Chuck added for her.
"She acted alone until Vanessa found the picture of S and Colin kissing on Juliet's laptop the day of the ballet. That's the day they contacted little Humphrey to join forces with them." They were putting the complete timeline together, and Juliet's plan started making sense.
"And according to Jenny, Juliet was the only planning to actually hurt Serena physically." Chuck piped in.
"Humiliation is one thing but drugging Serena and making it look like she reverted back to her old ways is a complete different story." Blair gave her boyfriend a pointed look. "They really did everything in their power to make sure no one trusted Serena. Sending in the application for Girl's Inc., stealing Serena's phone, kissing Dan and Nate, pulling the curtain at your party…"
She insisted on the last part – the part she knew Jenny was responsible for – the Brooklynite had been itching to get back at Blair for banishing her.
And she had nearly been successful, at the end of the party they had decided to go their separate ways. But thankfully, Blair had decided to follow her heart one more time. Things were different now, and messing their relationship would most likely be damage beyond repair.
They needed to focus on the task at hand: taking down Juliet for good this time.
"Serena left the party after everyone thought she was a liar, my guess is that's when Juliet found her and drugged her. She could play her like a puppet at that point." Blair finished, they had pieced everything back together. Now they need to figure out what Juliet's vendetta against Serena was about.
"We know why Vanessa and Jenny did what they did, but what about Juliet. What could her motive be?" Chuck pondered, there were many possibilities but it all came down to the same thing.
"Retribution," they said in unison.
"Of course, there must be something that links Serena and Juliet. Something in the past" Chuck offered, they had to start digging.
"Where do we go from here? I mean Juliet skipped town. We could try Gossip Girl I suppose." Although a desperate call, it was probably worth a try.
"Our wicked blogger is hardly known to help us out, it's actually usually the opposite." Chuck pointed out.
"True, but one thing Gossip Girl hates: a fake scandal. And we know for a fact that it wasn't Serena in that picture." Before Chuck could respond, Blair took her phone out to send the tip to Gossip Girl.
Moments later, her phone rang signalling a message.
"252 Cornice Avenue. Find the bitch."
Blair showed the message to Chuck and they walked over to the elevator. Chuck texted Arthur to pull the limo around.
Chuck and Blair had been sitting in the limo for a while now, they had obviously kept themselves busy in their sacred haven.
Blair's head was nestled in the crook of her boyfriend's neck, while Chuck's arms were protectively around her waist.
The limo came to a full stop, letting them know they had arrived. Arthur opened the door for them and they made their way to the house Gossip Girl had said Juliet was out.
As they walked in, they noticed what looked like a small-town house party.
They walked around after scanning around the house and not recognizing anybody.
Maybe exploring around the enormous house would give them more answers.
"This whole time she was pretending to be poor." Blair muttered. She couldn't understand why Juliet would go to the trouble of staying in a dirty apartment if she could afford living on the Upper East Side.
"It may not be her house." Chuck was right to point that out, after all Gossip Girl had said that's where she was, not where she lived. "She weaseled her way to the Upper East Side, nothing is stopping her from doing the same with rich townies."
Blair thought about what Chuck was saying. Indeed, as well as pursuing her vendetta against Serena, everything about Juliet showed she was a social climber. After all, she had been living off her billionaire cousin back in New York, before he cut her off.
Before Blair had a chance to come up with an answer, they spotted a familiar face. Albeit, not the one she was expecting.
Across the smoke-infused room, stood Damian Dalgaard.
Blair thought back to last year when Serena had gone to the ambassador's dinner and brought Damian as her date instead of Nate. Maybe he knew something, she pondered.
Noticing Chuck and Blair, Damian couldn't help but give in to his curiosity and walk over to them.
"Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf – what brings you to the wonderful land of Connecticut." He asked the couple half-sarcastically. He cut to the chase, he'd spent enough time in their circle to know that these two were hardly here for the party.
"Not to see you – obviously – but maybe you could lend a hand." It wasn't as if they were overwhelmed with help.
"You wouldn't know Juliet Sharpe would you? – assuming that's her real name." Chuck was quick to interject, he was glad to be there with Blair. Damian was bad news and he couldn't even fathom the idea of Blair being alone with him. Thankfully, to his knowledge anyway, Blair had never been alone with him.
"As a matter of fact, I do – I sold her pills and other stuff a few weeks ago, we met at her house. It happens to be just around the corner, I'll take you."
The three of them exited the house and made their way to Juliet's house.
Chuck knocked on the door firmly. They waited for Juliet to open it, with most-likely fear painted on her face. But instead an older woman opened the door - she must have been in her mid-forties – no doubt Juliet's mom.
Blair spoke up, "We're looking for Juliet. Juliet Sharpe."
Oh, she's not in, but you can wait inside – she should be back soon." She was polite, but hardly warm; she probably wondered who they were and what they wanted. Maybe they were friends of hers from Columbia.
"Thank you." Blair nodded politely, while Chuck and Damian followed her inside.
Chuck was keeping his distance with Blair, he missed being close to her. Their conversation they had yesterday made his need for physical contact with her more intense. He needed the reassurance that things were okay, since they hadn't breached the subject since.
Secretly, he loved the closeness of a public relationship with her. He could hold her hand, grab her waist as he pleased; but the secrecy in their new relationship couldn't let that happen. He missed that terribly, as far as anyone else was concerned they were merely trying to be friends, and in this case plotting and scheming.
Their behavior had to remain strictly platonic.
As they stood in the living room, the atmosphere was awkward. They waited for Juliet to arrive, not knowing how long it would take.
The home was modest, it was a typical house from a small town. There was a warm feeling to it; it wasn't filled with expensive furniture and ostentatious artwork like Blair's penthouse or Lily's for that matter.
"You're not from here, are you?" Judging by their attire, she concluded they were from out of town.
"We're both from New York." Chuck informed her as he motioned to Blair.
"I'm from here actually, I went to Knightley in high school." Damian noticed her flinch as he mentioned his former boarding school.
"My son Ben was a teacher there. He was so go at it, despite what they said." The bitterness in her voice didn't go unnoticed by the trio.
"I'll go make some tea." They nodded as she left them.
"Ben, Ben Donovan. I remember him. He got fired for sleeping with a student, everybody was sure it was Serena." There, they had it. The reason for everything happening to Serena.
Juliet's mother brought in the tea, but was interrupted by Blair, "I'm sorry but we really should be going."
Once outside, Chuck takes his phone out and calls Arthur to bring the limo around.
"Well, I should go back now. Unless there's anything else?" Damian asks, as his job is done.
"We're heading back to the city. Thanks." Chuck brushes off, anxious to have Blair to himself once again.
Before anything else can be said, the limo arrives in front of the house, ready to take them back to New York. They both sigh in relief, not being able to be close all day had taken its toll on them both. This secrecy was truly exhausting for them.
They got into the limo as Arthur held the door open for them.
Chuck didn't waste any time, as soon as the door closed on them he leaned in to kiss Blair. He had missed that all day. He hated that he hadn't been able to touch her all day but still having her so close.
"I was itching to that all day" He admitted whispering against her lips.
"Hmm, you've no idea how much I missed that." She inched closer to him and curled her body into his, she desperately needed to be in his arms after this trying day.
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, before Chuck spoke up "what do we do now? Juliet's not here, do you think she's back in New York?"
"She might have been tipped off, or seen us. At least, now we know what really happened, and most importantly why. We need to go to Serena and tell her. Who knows, maybe Juliet's gone back to New York." Blair rationalized, it was best to tell Serena what happened and then come up with a plan to take down Juliet.
"But we do need to deal with Juliet" Blair continued "There must be some fitting punishment for her, I mean we're not going to let her get away with all of this. Serena might have slept with the guy but it takes two to tango." Chuck pointed out.
"Don't you know me at all, lover?" Blair whispered seductively. "Of course we are going to do something. The last time we took her down will seem like child's play in comparison."
Chuck loved how scheming made Blair get so worked up, it was one of the many reasons he was so in love with her.
"And what do you suggest, Beautiful?" he prompted, whispering in her ear.
"Well, I was thinking along the lines of total social destruction." A devilish smirk graced her perfect features. "That, and leaving town – she can't be in New York anymore. She's caused enough trouble as it is, we can risk her messing with S again. Or you and me for that matter." She concluded before pressing her lips against his.
"I couldn't agree more, Lover." Chuck wore a smirk identical to hers; they really were a perfect match, he thought to himself.
That evening, as they got back to New York, they headed straight to the Ostroff center to tell Serena everything. Maybe knowing the whole story would awaken Serena's thirst for revenge.
After all, she was always the one complaining she thought something wasn't fair. Of course, there was always the possibility of things going the other way. It was true that Serena had often frowned upon Blair and Chuck scheming to get what they wanted.
But this situation was completely different. They weren't manipulating anybody – merely gathering information on Juliet to explain her actions. Now that they knew, they could take action and get rid of her for good.
They entered the building and asked the front desk for Serena Van Der Woodsen's room. They were given her room number and headed towards the elevator.
Serena was just sitting in a chair in her room when she heard someone walking in.
"S, we need to talk to you." Blair announced without even greeting her best friend. There were pressing matters that required their attention.
"First, are you two back together or something?" Serena wondered what Chuck was doing here. She and Blair hadn't had a chance to discuss her situation with Chuck since the Saints and Sinners ball, where they had fought.
"No we're not," Blair brushed off quickly. "Anyway, we're here to talk about Juliet, it's important."
"What about me?" a voice behind them piped in – Juliet's voice. Had Gossip Girl been lying to them this whole time? Was she protecting Juliet all along?
"You – what do you think you're doing here? If you think you're going to get away with it, you've got another thing coming." Blair didn't waste any time on pleasantries, this girl was going down; she would make sure of it.
"If you'd let me speak, you would know that I came to tell Serena the truth about why I did what I did. I have my reasons, I may have taken things too far but there is an explanation." She was obviously trying to find excuses to defend herself, Blair decided. "Serena, can we talk? Alone."
"So you can drug her again? We're staying." Blair's overprotective side was coming out, Chuck noticed.
"Wait, you drugged me?" This was new information for Serena, this was going to be long. "Anyway, they're staying."
"Fine. It's a long story, you should all take a seat." Juliet announced before beginning her story.
"Ben Donovan is my brother, well half-brother. You remember him, right? He was your English teacher back in boarding school." Serena nodded so she could continue with her story.
"He got fired and sent to jail after you left Knightley. There was a signed affidavit with charges for statutory rape and crossing state-lines with a minor – it had your signature on it." The latter shocked Serena, she had definitely not signed anything incriminating Ben. She wasn't even aware he was in jail.
"He swore it wasn't true, that he never touched you. But he was advised to settle instead of fighting it, there was a witness that had seen the two of you at a bed & breakfast. The story wasn't going to get out so we got a plea bargain for the D.A. – his name wouldn't end up on the sex offenders list, and the story would stay out of the papers." That was a tough pill to swallow for Serena, as well as for Chuck and Blair.
"He didn't lie, we never slept together. But I never signed any affidavit." Serena blurted out, this was the first she had ever heard of what had happened.
"It was your signature Serena, I saw the affidavit myself." Juliet's tone was offensive, she couldn't believe Serena still wouldn't admit anything to her. Serena held her gaze, either she was a better liar than anybody gave her credit for, or else she actually had nothing to do with the whole story.
"Fine, if you didn't sign it, who did?" She relented. But if she hadn't done it, everything that happened – everything that had done was about revenge for her brother.
"The one person who would stop at nothing to avoid her family been linked to a scandal – my mother." Serena said naturally.
"Serena, are you sure about this? There may be another explanation." Chuck offered.
"Like what Chuck? Who else could have pretended I gave the affidavit to them?" Serena's explanation made sense after all.
"Juliet, I'll take care of this and I'll also do everything in my power to get Ben out of jail, I promise." Serena told Juliet, it explained everything from the rumors about Serena trading sex for grades, driving a wedge between her and Blair, and not to mention the events that transpired the day of Chuck's Saints and Sinners ball.
Juliet only nodded before exiting the room. It was just Serena, Blair and Chuck now. And Serena just couldn't avoid Blair's glare, she was expecting this.
"You're telling me that after we went to the trouble of tracking her down, finding out all her secrets, not to mention spending the day with Damian Dalgaard, you just want us to do nothing? Are you crazy! She needs to pay for everything she did." Blair was getting angry now.
"She thought I put her brother in prison. Seriously Blair, I don't want you going after her." Serena gave Blair a pointed look, before diverting her eyes over to Chuck. "Same goes for you Chuck. Now I need to get out of this place and talk to my mother."
"We'll come with you" Blair was annoyed with Serena for telling her not to go after Juliet. It wasn't fair, and even though Serena had been the main victim in Juliet's manipulations, many people had been collateral damage – Blair just couldn't stand for it. There would be some form of payback. Albeit, a little kinder than the original plan, but effective nonetheless.
Chuck gave Blair a knowing look before nodding. As usual, he knew what was on that devious mind of hers – he always did. He wanted to let her know that he was on her side and she could count on him to help her take Juliet down. Her actions had caused him to nearly lose the love of his life again, albeit she wasn't the one to instigate their exposure to everyone at the party – particularly, Gossip Girl's spies.
As they arrived at the penthouse, Rufus and Lily were sitting on the couch in the living room. Serena confronted her mother about what had happened. "I just want the truth Mom."
"It's true, but I did it to protect you, for your future. Your school records from Knightley were terrible, neither Constance nor any of the good schools were willing to take you, I didn't know what to do. So I went to see your headmaster directly to discuss the options. "
"I wanted you to come home but I didn't know how to make it possible. So when I heard some girls talking I used it to our advantage. For you." The helplessness in Lily's voice didn't go unnoticed by the people in the room. She needed her daughter to understand the reason, no matter how wrong the decision had been.
"You sent an innocent man behind bars, nothing ever happened between us." Serena stated, "You ruined his life, and now he's in jail for a crime he didn't commit."
"Look, everyone here has crossed a line to protect someone they care about. Sometimes there's collateral damage." Chuck interjected in an effort to defend Lily.
Serena just huffed and left. Chuck and Blair left a while afterwards when the awkwardness became too much to handle and they really couldn't stand it anymore.
"Let's go home, Nate's still at the Van Der Bilt compound so we'll have the penthouse to ourselves." Chuck whispered against her hair before dropping a kiss on the top of her head.
"That sounds perfect, and exactly what I need. I thought this day was never going to end." Blair sighed heavily. They decided to travel in separate cars, instead they were spotted by one of Gossip Girl's many spies.
"I'll see you in a few minutes, I love you." Blair whispered against his lips before the elevator doors opened and revealed them to any onlookers.
"See you then, lover." That smirked she loved so much, that made her heart race was spread across his gorgeous face.
"Chuck" Blair called as she exited the elevator and walked in to Chuck's penthouse, when she noticed a soft glow coming from the living room. Moments later she saw it.
Chuck had prepared a candle-lit dinner, with her favorite food and her favorite vintage.
"What's all this Chuck?"
"Just me thanking you for being you, Beautiful." He kissed her lips purposefully. Blair was astonished by his gesture, she was really not expecting that.
She could see how hard he was trying. Trying to be a better man for her. He had learnt his lesson the hard way in the last few months, he needed her. He had trouble functioning properly without her. They had to be a team from now on, like they should have been from the very start.
No matter how difficult their argument had been the day before, it felt worth it now that they got to share a moment together, just them. All thoughts of scheming Juliet, Serena left their mind. It was all about them tonight. Chuck and Blair, Blair and Chuck; that was all that mattered.
Chuck poured the champagne into two glasses, and handed one to Blair. He raised his glass, "A toast to you, Beautiful." He proceeded to kiss her afterwards, it had been a trying day.
Enjoying the attention and her boyfriend's presence, they sat down to enjoy the wonderful meal waiting for them.
"So tell me, what do you want to do about Juliet, my love?" Chuck knew she wasn't going to forget it based on Serena's demand.
"I think we need to act fast. She's still in New York. We have to make sure she never sets foot in Manhattan again." Blair was in plotting mode and there was nothing Chuck loved more.
"Gossip Girl knows the photo was fake now, we could use that as leverage." Chuck pointed out smartly.
Nodding once, Blair continued "I agree, I think we should to that tomorrow."
"I'm in if you're in." The challenging tone in her voice was too tempting, and Chuck had never been one to back down from a challenge.
"For you, always." It was something he had often said to her when they were plotting against one person or another.
"Moving on to something more interesting. I think we need a vacation, you, me and a small chalet in Vermont for the next two weeks, what do you say?" Chuck had planned this as a surprise for her since they renewed their relationship.
"When do we leave?" Blair didn't waste any time pretending to ponder. She wanted nothing more than to be locked away in a chalet with Chuck, and no interruptions at all.
"The day after tomorrow." He kissed her, they would spend Christmas just the two of them, it holiday was something they really needed. Focusing on their relationship, issue-free was complicated with the constant drama surrounding them.
They kissed passionately before retiring to Chuck's bedroom to continue their fun and games for the night.
The next morning, they had woken up early so they could deal with Juliet and soon move on to other more interesting things, each other for example.
Since everybody was aware of what she had done, it was easier to track her down and meet her. They decided to have her come to the Empire. Being in their own surroundings would help them keep the upper hand in this predicament.
She had told them she was on her way over.
Sure enough, the elevator signaled her arrival 20 minutes later.
"Chuck, Blair. What did you want to see me for?" She was clearly not amused to have been summoned to Chuck's hotel, his suite even less. The only times she had been here was when she spent the night with Nate. She felt her mind reminisce and put a stop to it, shaking her head – as if she could shake the thought out.
Blair spoke up. "It's simple really. We have a few rules for you."
"Oh really. There isn't anything you too can do. Serena knows everything now." She seemed overly confident.
"Maybe so, but we have your full confession on tape, and we won't hesitate to use it. Serena feels guilty, that's why she refuses to do anything about what you put her through. I see things differently, I'm a firm believer in payback." Blair's devious grin warmed Chuck's heart, as he cut in.
"We will use if you speak. You're leaving New York as planned, but you can never come back. We both have a lot of power here, and the drugs you gave Serena could have caused much more damage than they actually did."
Juliet realized there was nothing she could do, leaving the city was probably best anyway. Being far away from these people was what she needed above all.
She nodded, "I understand, I'll agree to your terms." With that she left, leaving the couple alone, once again.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed the lengthy chapter! Also thanks to my lovely readers and there support and patience; especially Chairytale944 :)