A/N: Thoughts?

Four

May 2010

Nate got out of the cab, motioning for the driver to stay where he was. He quickly made his way to the door and rang the bell, shaking some stray rain droplets off of his hair as he did so. Footsteps. And then...

"Nate?" Jenny questioned, appalled, holding the edge of the door as if preparing to slam it in his face at any moment.

Her eyes were wide with...shock? Curiosity? Happiness? He wasn't sure.

"What are you doing here?"

Her question brought him back to Earth.

"I came to see how you were doing," he stuttered slightly, his heart sinking as he watched her avert her gaze to the doorknob.

This time, he knew the feeling coursing through her veins – shame.

"Who told you?" Jenny murmured, unable to look him in the eyes still.

"Vanessa," he answered uncertainly, not wanting to get her into any trouble with Jenny. "Well, Dan told her because he thought she would know how to console you, you know? And then, she thought I would know how to..."

Stop rambling, idiot.

"I'm fine Nate," she assured him, her voice firm, but emotionless. "Just go."

"Jenny..." he started, not knowing what to say to her or rather, not knowing where to begin.

Silence.

"Look Nate," she spoke up after a moment, starting to shut the front door.

"Thanks for coming here to check up on me, but you didn't have to. What happened between...Well, it was a mutual mistake, alright? I just...don't want to talk about it right now...or ever. Just go back. Leave."

He held his breath, wanting to reach out to her before deciding otherwise.

"Come with me," he whispered, planning to deny he had said anything at all was she to reject him.

She lifted her eyes to meet his upon hearing his soft-spoken request.

"Why?"

He drew a blank to her question. Frankly, he wasn't sure what he was even doing on her doorstep this late at night. In fact, why had he even boarded that train to Hudson without so much as a second thought? All he knew at the time was that he wanted to be there for her. He had always had an inclination to protect her – from everything.

Jenny sighed. Slight Anger? Sadness? Disappointment? He wasn't sure.

She cleared her throat and then, continued, "I'm not going back Nate. Ever. I'm starting over here..."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she put up a finger to stop him. She rambled on.

"...without anyone from the Upper East Side and that includes you. I'm sorry."

She refused to wait for him to respond, promptly closing the door after she had made her point. He chose not to take her harsh words to heart and waited on the other side of the wooden barrier, waiting for her return.

Two minutes. Five minutes. Twenty minutes.

He turned finally, defeated, and returned to the cab. The rain was pounding down hard on him now, making him wish he had remembered to pack an umbrella in his rush to find her. He took one last long look back at her building before climbing into the vehicle.

"You want to go back to the train station?" the driver asked him, breaking into his thoughts.

He had seen and heard everything.

"No," he answered after a moment of pondering. "Take me to the nearest hotel."

She watched him pull away from the curb from her bedroom window, blinking back the tears as she did so. She needed more than anything for someone to hold her and tell her everything would be ok – someone who wasn't her mother, but it was better this way. After all, nobody loved her.

May 2015

"Whatever spell you have her under, break it," he begged as he got down on his knees. "Please."

Jack looked down at his nephew then, his eyes unreadable. In the past, he would have given anything to have Chuck get down on his knees like this and beg him for something – anything, but now, things were different. They were both in love with the same woman and this time around, he was playing this game for himself – for his own happiness.

"Get up Chuck," he told him, making a grab for his elbow to help him up.

Chuck pushed him away. He was drunk, very drunk.

"I'm not getting up until you promise me you'll stay out of her life!" Chuck spat, looking up at him with disdain. "I will give you anything! You can have everything I own! Please. Just give me her!"

He knew what he was insinuating from the tone of his voice.

"If you think I'm blackmailing her into this marriage, then you're sorely mistaken," Jack warned him, making a motion to help him up again. "You think I could force Blair into marrying me if that were not her true desire?"

Chuck laughed.

"Good one," he spoke up, holding onto Jack's arm as if he needed the extra support from laughing so hard.

"I'm not kidding," Jack responded calmly, trying hard to be patient with his nephew. "So I find it funny how you find the truth so damn funny."

The laughter stopped. Hard eyes met hard eyes before one of them finally snapped.

"No," Chuck whispered, unable to believe what Jack was telling him.

All along Blair had been with Jack to spite him. He was sure of it. She hated Jack as much as he did. She knew that being with him would drive him insane and marrying him? He'd be certified dead within seconds of the ceremony. She was using Jack to get to him. He was sure of it.

No, he wasn't.

"I'm telling you the truth Chuck," Jack finished as he stood to leave the hotel room. "She said yes to my proposal at her own freewill. Ask her yourself."

He said nothing and remained where he was, kneeling on the carpeted floor of the room.

Two minutes. Five minutes. Twenty minutes.

Chuck finally turned to look at the closed door. Jack's words were getting to him. God damn it!