Summary: Big, messy tears fall down her cheeks and her nose drips sickly onto her lip as she completely breaks down; absolutely, positively loses it in the middle of a stark white hospital hallway. Chuck & Blair after the accident all the way until the wedding.

AN: Thank you tons and tons for the reviews! I want to finish this story before the new episode is on otherwise I don't think I will lol, so I'm sorry for neglecting my other fics. Let me know what you think! :)

6

The moment Blair spots her best friend standing in the precinct lobby, she rushes over and wraps the blonde in a huge, tight hug.

"Oh my gosh, Serena! I've never been so happy to see you in my whole life!"

The blonde pats her back, smiling softly as she pulls away. "I brought you a coat and some shoes," she explains, motioning to the items in her arms.

"Thank you, thank you," Blair breathes in relief, quickly taking them from her friend and slipping them on. "It was freezing in there and all they gave me was this old blanket that smelled like eggs which I refused to use."

Serena scrunches up her nose at that.

"And then this old, hairy woman kept offering to warm me up herself and just.. ugh... It was awful."

The blonde laughs a bit as she reaches out and gently pushes back her friend's hair to comfort her.

Blair sighs in relief to herself. She wants nothing more to get out of this building and pretend this whole thing never even happened. They begin to walk and Blair holds on to Serena's arm for support, still feeling a bit wobbly and drunk from the night before. The two girls make their way toward the entrance when suddenly the brunette stops them in their tracks.

"Wait a second," Blair mutters, suddenly trying to wipe at her tired eyes and wishing she had her make up kit so she could at least attempt to cover the bags she knows must be under her eyes. " Do I look okay? How's my hair?"

The blonde eyes her strangely. "A mess," she laughs. "Why does it matter?"

"Well there must be a swarm of paparazzi outside," Blair says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "I at least want to face this scandal with decent hair."

Serena smiles softly and shakes her head. "There's no paparazzi, B. Chuck threatened to go after anyone who spoke a word about what happened at the bar."

The brunette's mouth falls into a confused frown, unsure of what to think. She had spent the whole night sitting in a jail cell wondering how she was going to explain this whole thing to Louis, and Sophie, and even Eleanor. She'd been a wreck thinking about how she was going to face the press after the mess she made.

But Chuck saved her from all of that, even after she'd pretty much ignored his existence since the accident.

She bites her lip and tries not to think too much about everything as she lets Serena lead her out into the cool, early morning sunlight.

It takes moment for her tired eyes to adjust to the light, but once they do, her gaze somehow finds him. He's standing by his limo where it is parked across the street, talking to Humphrey.

"What is he doing here?" she hisses in panic to her best friend.

Serena rolls her eyes as she begins to wave her hand around to get the boys attention. "He just wants to make sure you're okay."

Blair's eyes widen and tries to grab the blonde's arm to stop her, "No! Don't call him over here."

But it's too late. Chuck's eyes land on her almost immediately.

Her eyes glaze over with emotion at the powerful look he gives her. His hazel eyes are so kind and caring and she can tell his strong jaw is clenched tightly even from across the street. As the boys start to walk towards her and Serena, she takes note of his small limp and how his hair is shaggier as if he hasn't had a haircut in weeks, but it looks cute on him even if it makes her worry if he's been looking after himself properly.

The boys step into the street and she takes a deep breath to prepare herself to face him. It's breaking so many of her rules to be so close to him and talk to him but she supposes it's the polite thing to do to thank him for helping her out.

A helpless smile curls her lips as he gets closer.

He looks so handsome.

Abruptly the quiet New York morning erupts into noise, honking horns and screeching breaks.

Blair's gasps in wide eyed horror as a bright yellow cab comes to a halt just inches before it hits Chuck in the middle of the street.

"Hey!" Chuck barks, his eyes furious as he slams a fist down on the hood of the cab, "Watch your speed, asshole!"

Blair's hand jumps to her chest, trying to calm her racing heart.

She knows immediately that it's a sign.

She's breaking too many of her rules and on top of that she was admiring him in a completely inappropriate way for someone with a fiance.

She takes an uneven step backward when he steps on to the sidewalk in front of her.

God is reminding her to stick to her end of the deal or he'll go back on his.

She has to get out of here.

"I-I just wanted to say thank you," Blair stutters, facing him, but not meeting his dark eyes. "But I really need to get home."

Chuck's face falls but he keeps watching her in concern. "Really? I was hoping that we could talk..."

"No," she quickly responds, her voice gaining strength. She forces herself to meet his gaze and she makes herself be brave, because she needs him to listen to her. "There is nothing for us to talk about. I'm marrying Louis."

His dumbly shakes his head and moves closer to her, speaking in a hushed tone so that only she can hear him. "You said you picked me," he reminds her, his voice wavering. "Before the accident you told me I was the one you never wanted to leave."

Blair looks away unable to stand looking into his watery, hazel eyes. "Well, it was a mistake," she explains in a harsh tone. "I was just sick of fighting with Louis, but we've made up now, so..."

"So the fairy tale is back on," he finishes for her with a sad smile.

She nods, trying to hold back her tears at the heartbroken look on his face. It is killing her to do this to him. "I'm sorry," she whispers, having to take a step backward to put some distance between them, "I'm really sorry, Chuck."

He watches with a heavy heart as she turns and rushes away from him down the street.

His step-sister springs in to action, running past him to catch up with the petite brunette. "Blair! Wait up!"

His gaze drops to the ground and he sadly shuffles his feet, unsure of what to do with himself now. Part of him had thought helping Blair would change her mind about whatever he had done wrong to make her leave him. Apparently he was wrong.

Quietly, Dan steps up to his side and rests a hand supportively on his shoulder. "Let's get you home, man."

Chuck doesn't respond, still too hurt to even think.

"Come on," Dan urges, nodding with his head toward the waiting limo.

Finally, Chuck reluctantly allows the other boy to lead him away.

"It'll be okay, man," Dan assures him, before smiling softly and trying to lighten the mood, "I mean, we still have one and a half more Matrixes to watch."

He lets out a short, hollow laugh despite himself, shaking his head. "Shut up, Humphrey."

–––

That night all that can be heard in the dinning room of the Waldorf penthouse is the gentle scrap of silverware against fine china and the ocasional clink of expensive stemware.

Blair places a modest bite of her fresh green salad in her mouth and slowly chews it. Once she swallows it she looks up from her plate and politely smiles at her fiance from across the table.

Louis returns her simple smile as he takes a bite of his steak, taking his time to chew the tender meat.

Lifting her wine glass, she takes a long sip of the red liquid.

It's too quiet.

It's too formal.

It's too cold.

All Blair wants to do is scream.

She sets back down her glass and fixes a soft smile on her lips. "Sweetie, did you get a chance to look over the seating chart like I asked?"

Louis swallows his food and shakes his head. "I didn't but I trust your judgement. I'm sure whatever you've decided will be just fine."

Blair's smile tightens and she takes another long drink from her glass.

"My mother called this afternoon," he informs her after taking a few more bites of his meal. "She and Beatrice decided to fly in a day earlier. They thought you might need some extra help in light of all that's happened."

She wants to argue with him. She wants to insist that she has everything under control, that she doesn't need help from anyone.

But instead she keeps her empty smile firmly in place. "Well isn't that thoughtful of them?"

Louis nods and sets down his silverware. "That was delicious. The new chef has really outdone himself," he comments courteously before looking towards her. "Are you sure you don't want any steak, sweetheart?"

She shakes her head smoothly. "I had Vera resize my dress to my old measurements and I have a final fitting in just a few days so..." she trails off and takes another bite of her bland salad.

He simply nods cordially before pushing his chair back from the table. "Well I hope you don't mind if I excuse myself. I have a lot of business that needs attending if I want to be free to relax on our honeymoon."

She blanches at the thought of the two them stuck in St. Bart's for two weeks together.

Luckily for her, Louis doesn't seem to notice. He doesn't notice anything anymore.

He rounds the table to her side and bends down to place a quick kiss on her hair.

Blair freezes at this touch and stays completely still in her seat as she listens to him walk away and disappear into the elevator. As soon as she hears it slide closed, she lets out a heavy breath, her whole body turning into mush as she slumps back against the antique dinning chair. Closing her eyes, she buries her face into her hands and tries to be strong.

"Miss Blair?"

She squeezes her eyes tightly together at the sound of her maid's voice.

She's not supposed to look at Dorota. She can't.

Footsteps move closer to her across the marble floor and her stomach tightens as a warm hand clasps her shoulder.

"Miss Blair, it will be okay..."

Reluctantly, she pulls her hands away from from her face and slowly opens her eyes, giving Dorota more than a passing glance for the first time since the accident. She can see the concern and trepidation in the older woman's eyes, a woman who has been like a surrogate mother to her, but all she can focus on is her stomach. Her growing, healthy stomach with a growing, healthy baby inside.

Blair abruptly shakes off the woman's touch as she jumps up from her chair.

"Miss Blair," Dorota calls out to her tearfully, a knowing look in her eyes.

Blair adverts her gaze from the woman, clenching her jaw tightly. "You are dismissed, Dorota," she whispers, her voice dangerously low.

The maid shakes her head sadly and steps forward. "But..."

Blair snaps. "I said you're dismissed!"

She stands there, barely holding on, as she watches the maid sniffle and cry as she rushes out of the room.

Tears instantly glaze over her wide brown eyes but she refuses to break. Taking a deep breaths, she brings a shaky hand to her forehead, feeling so overwhelmed she feels faint.

She stumbles over to the wall, tiny spots dancing in front of her eyes.

Her mind runs a mile a minute with thoughts of Louis and her wedding, Dorota and her baby... Chuck...

A few stray tears fall from her eyes and her chest tightens with the weight of everything that's happened.

She wants Chuck. She needs Chuck.

Blair wipes her eyes and shakes her head to herself.

She can't go back now. She can't go back on her deal or God will take him away from her all together. At least now he's still out there and he's still alive.

She just needs to keep reminding herself of that.

She hears heels starts to click against the stairs and immediately she springs into action, pushing herself off the wall and sliding back into her chair. She takes slow, deep breaths to try and regain her composure as she listens to the steps move across the foyer.

"Hey B," Serena greets her with a sleepy smile having just woken up from a long nap to make up for the sleep she'd missed the night before. She moves into the dinning room before stopping and looking curiously around the empty table. "Where's Louis? I thought you guys were having dinner tonight."

"We already did."

The blonde's brow furrows. "That was fast."

Blair nods and forces herself to smile easily. "He has a lot of work to get done before the wedding so.."

"Oh," Serena responds, unsure. "That makes sense, I guess."

Blair distractedly nods again and starts to pick at her salad again just to have something to distract herself with.

The blonde studies her best friend cautiously before sitting tenatively next to her at the table. "Blair," she starts hesitantly, before speaking up because she knows she has to. "Is everything okay?"

The brunette shrugs and grins a little hysterically. "Everything is perfect."

Serena sighs. "Are you sure? I mean I know we haven't really talked about what happened with the accident but..."

"We didn't talk about it, S," Blair interrupts with a bit of an edge, "because we don't need to."

"I think maybe we should," Serena argues back gently. "I mean I thought you were doing as well as could be expected, considering everything. But last night... I've never seen you get like that."

The brunette rolls her eyes. "It was my bachelorette party, Serena. Lighten up."

She shakes her head. "No, B. It wasn't just that. You were different. You were completely out of control. And then this morning, after you saw Chuck..."

Blair glares at her best friend. "You're over reacting."

"I'm not. I'm worried about you, B."

Her jaw tightens. "I don't need you to worry about me. I told you I'm fine."

"But you're not!"

The brunette takes a long, calming breath, refusing to get worked up and show her best friend how bad things really are. "I'm fine, Serena," she repeats evenly. She pushes back her chair and slowly comes to a stand, giving her friend a pointed look. "So I'm asking you to please just drop it."

Serena can do nothing but helplessly watch her friend walk away and retreat up stairs to her bedroom, a sick feeling in her stomach.

–––

Chuck slowly pushes himself up from the couch to stand in the living room of his penthouse suite.

Tiredly he shuffles around the room, quiet so as not to disturb Dan where he has fallen asleep in an armchair, and turns off the TV and then the lights.

Overall, the day could have turned out much worse considering the way it had started.

Once they'd gotten back to the Empire, they'd finally made it through the rest of the movies while over stuffing themselves with a massive breakfast. It wasn't long after that when Nathaniel arrived home from class, conveniently holding up an oversized baggie of the best weed he'd ever had the pleasure of smoking. After that, the boys had spent the afternoon playing violent video games and laughing hysterically at things that probably wouldn't have been so funny if they hadn't been so high.

Chuck steps over Nate who had passed out over an hour ago on his $3,000 Persian rug and scowls knowing his friend is probably drooling all over it in his sleep. He's too tired though to bother making Nate get to bed for the sake of the expensive fabric, so he just keeps shuffling towards his room.

He so exhausted he wants nothing more than to crawl into his bed and sleep forever; forget about Blair and Louis and their stupid perfect life together; the life that was supposed to be his.

Shaking his head to try to clear it, he reaches out for the handle to his bedroom door when the elevator dings behind him. He nearly growls in frustration at being distracted from his much, much needed sleep.

"Mr. Bass?"

Sighing, he reluctantly steps into view of the elevator and glares at the sight of the head of his security staff standing in the foyer.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, but..."

"Do you even realize what time it is?" Chuck snarls, walking slowly towards his employee.

The man furrows his brow in confusion. "It's only seven."

Chuck quickly checks his watch and is shocked to see the man is right. He could have sworn it was almost midnight. "It's been a long day," he concludes dismissively. "Now is there something you needed me for or..."

"Of course, Mr. Bass," the man begins. "Earlier today the police asked for the surveillance video from the parking garage the night of your accident."

Chuck's eyes narrow, his interest peaked. "What?"

"We of course turned over a copy right away," the man continues to explain, "But I reviewed the original video myself and I think there is something you need to see." He pulls out an unlabeled DVD and motions towards the television. "If you don't mind."

Nodding and motioning for him to go ahead, Chuck watches curiously as the tall man loads the video into the player until suddenly there is black and white images moving across the screen. He steps forward, watching closely at the underground parking lot he recognizes so well.

There is no movement at all for the first minute or so until a tall, lanky man with a buzz cut steps slowly into the frame. He looks cautiously around before stepping towards a town car, the same car he and Blair had ridden in that very night, and kneeling discreetly by the back wheel.

Chuck's eyes widen as he leans forward, staring at the screen and not believing his eyes.

The man on the video pulls something small from his back pocket before practically lying on the ground and looking under the car. He makes a few quick movements with his hands before a smile seems to cross his face and he starts to get back up.

Chuck grits his teeth together, his blood boiling over with rage.

Someone did this on purpose.

It was Blair's car that they got into. Her car that was messed with.

Someone was trying to hurt Blair.

He sees red as he dashes into action, reaching out and snatching the remote up, pausing it just as a clear shot of the man's face crosses the screen.

"I want you to check all the rest of the tapes from that night," Chuck barks to his employee. "See if he talked to anyone, if you can tell how he got there, even what direction he was going when he left. Any clues at all as to who this is and report back to me."

"Yes sir," the security guard nods shortly before heading off to do as he has been told.

Chuck turns away from the screen and immediately starts scowering the living room for his cell phone, shoving things out of his way in frustration.

Dan stirs and stretches in his sleep. "What's going on?"

He ignores him as he finally finds his phone underneath a pillow on the couch. He quickly hits a number on his speed dial and presses the phone to his ear as he taps his foot anxiously on the ground.

"Mike, I need you to do something for me now," Chuck barks into the phone the second the other end picks up. "I need you to find out everything there is to know about the investigation the police are doing into the accident I was in a few weeks ago."

Dan sits up in his chair and looks around in confusion. "Seriously, what happened?"

"And I need you to find someone for me immediately," Chuck continues. "I don't have a name but I'm going to send you a picture. Hold on."

Pulling the phone down he launches the camera app on his phone and holds it out, taking a picture of the TV screen.

Nate jumps awake at the beeping noise of the phone's camera snapping. He blinks and tries to remember where he is and why he's on the floor as he wipes a trail of drool from his chin. He turns toward the bright light of the television and squints to make out the picture.

"Why is Max on TV?"

Chuck immediately stops mid-sentence as he speaks to his PI, staring wide-eyed at his best friend. "You know that guy?"

Nate shrugs listlessly from where he lays on the floor. "Not really. He dated Charlie I guess and went on a date or two with Serena but..."

"Call her now," Chuck demands, picking Nate's phone up from the coffee table and throwing it towards him. "Find out everything you can about him."

The blonde's brow furrows as the phone hits him in the arm.

"Can someone tell me what is going on?" Dan tries to ask again in frustration.

"Yeah, man. Why do you need to know anything about Max?"

Chuck's jaw tightens and his eyes turn dark. "Because I'm going to kill him."

TBC...

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