A/N: I hope you enjoy this chapter. Reviews would be loved. Who would you like to be endgame? Nate and Vanessa or Nate and Georgina?

The Trouble With Love


Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself standing in a white room. There were no doors and no windows. There seemed to be no escape.

"Hello?" Blair called out to no one in particular.

There was no answer. The echo of her own voice clouded her mind and the brunette brought her knees to her chest in an attempt to protect herself; to comfort herself. Where was she? She recalled briefly that she had fainted and that her world had faded into a monotonous black. It was ironic though that she now found herself in a completely white room.

"Hello?" she called out again.

This time a figure appeared before her and she found herself face to face with Abby once more. The brunette stood up immediately, a look of anger flashing across her face.

"Where the hell am I Abby?" Blair demanded to know.

Abby smiled as a form of reassurance.

"You will wake up as soon as I finish talking to you. I thought I should brief you on how everything needs to be done. We only have one shot to go back to the past Blair."

She flipped her brown curls over her shoulder and motioned for Abby to continue.

"Carter is here because he finally saw your text message. You need to ensure that he leaves the Upper East Side."

"Why?" Blair questioned.

"Without you keeping him here, he would have left. Carter would have found..." Abby trailed off in hesitation.

"Found what?" she urged.

Abby shook her head in response. "Carter will tell you soon enough what he plans to do and you must encourage him to do it. Once he leaves, some of what should have happened will be restored."

Blair was utterly too tired and weak to argue with her or press her for more information. She allowed her to continue her speech.

"Serena is here about Dan," Abby continued when she received no resistance from the brunette.

"I was about to ask you about that actually," Blair interrupted her. "When I rejected Chuck, Dan and Serena were broken up. Why would I want for them to reunite?"

"You told her about the Miss Carr and Dan having sex in the costume closet incident, remember?" Abby asked, trying to refresh her memory. "She slapped him and then the two of you made that pact. Serena would have taken him back and they would have reunited by now without the new Blair Waldorf."

"How about we skip the blame game Abby?" Blair suggested, frost cascading down the sides of her every word.

She was sick and tired of hearing that everything was her fault because the worst part of it was that everything was her fault. All she had wanted was to fix her own life. She had never intentionally wanted to sabotage the lives of other people, especially the ones she truly cared about.

"Have you finished briefing me yet?" Blair questioned, irritation evident in her voice.

Abby smiled. "Remember Blair. Carter needs to leave the Upper East Side. Serena and Dan must reunite and Dan must attend Yale next year."

With that, she began to fade away and Blair found herself alone in the white room once again. It was eerily silent until she heard Chuck whisper her name repeatedly. Blair. Blair. Blair.


"Chuck!" she screamed as she clutched onto the sheets for support.

He rushed to her bedside immediately to help her sit up.

"I'm here Blair," he told her. "Are you feeling alright? You just blacked out. I was so..."

He looked so distraught and Blair couldn't help but smile to herself. She knew Chuck still loved her even if he was still too broken to admit it to her face; to say it out loud.

"I'm fine Chuck," she assured him as she fixed his tousled hair. "Would it be alright if I had a few moments alone with Carter?"

Chuck's eyes glazed over and he held her hand protectively.

"Why?" he grunted.

"I just need a few moments with him Chuck," Blair repeated, her tone adamant and demanding.

The look in her eyes told him that this request was not to be denied, so he did the only thing he could and nodded. He walked out of her room reluctantly with Serena close at his heels. He spun around for a just a brief moment to face Carter.

"I will be right outside this door Baizen. If you so much as touch her, I will..."

"I get it Bass. For the millionth time, Blair and I are just friends now," Carter reiterated as he walked over to Blair's side.

Chuck remained unconvinced and he hated himself for being so insecure. Serena threw him an encouraging glance and the two closed the door behind them.

"Carter," Blair started.

"It's fine Blair. We were fake dating anyway. Our fake break-up would have happened sooner or later," he told her.

Blair nodded and much to her dismay Carter remained silent. Didn't Abby say he would tell her of some sort of plan?

"So, are you planning to go anywhere? Do you have any important plans coming up?" Blair urged.

Carter raised an eyebrow at her random questions.

"Why do you ask Blair?" he asked curiously.

Blair giggled to mask her ulterior motive. "You're always a man with a plan!"

Carter laughed at her response.

"A friend of mine has always wanted to find her father. We almost had him this one time, but he escaped from our grasp. I plan to track him down again with the help of my PI of course."

"Who is this friend of yours exactly? You must care about her a lot to do this for her," Blair stated.

Carter shook his head. "It's not my place to tell you who she is Blair, but I do care about her just like I care about you. You let me know if Chuck hurts you again. He may think he's well-connected, but I am as well."

Blair laughed. "Thanks Carter, but that won't be necessary. Are you leaving anytime soon?"

"Well, there's no rush really," he responded, shrugging his shoulders.

"I think you should go as soon as possible."

"Do you want to get rid of me that badly?" Carter teased.

Blair shook her head. "No, but I think you should find your friend's father as soon as you can."

"Blair, is there something going on that I should know about? You seem pretty persistent on my departure."

"No!" Blair assured him. "I just...I know how important my father is to me. I just can't imagine living a life without knowing who my father is, you know?"

She looked him intently in the eyes, hoping her explanation was decent enough. Carter smiled then and Blair breathed a sigh of relief.

"I suppose you're right. You get some rest. I'll call you when I can," he promised as he stood up to leave.

"Thanks again Carter – for everything."

He waved at her one last time before heading out the door. Chuck and Serena reappeared by her side moments later.

"What was that all about?" Chuck inquired almost immediately.

"He was just telling me he was leaving."

"Oh yeah? Where to?" Chuck challenged her.

"He's helping a friend find her father."

Serena froze upon hearing this, although the two brunettes failed to notice.

"Did he track him down again?"

Blair crinkled her nose in confusion. "What do you mean again S? How do you know he already tried to track him down once?"

Serena swallowed hard before giving her best friend a reply, "He mentioned it once. We were at this party. I forget which one."

Blair shrugged, accepting her answer.

"So S, are you and Humphrey friends again?"

"Yes! That's why I came over here. I know you said I should just leave the rest to you, but I thought we could come up with the next step of the plan together."

"Hold up!" Chuck interrupted the blond. "Did everyone miss the part where my girlfriend hit the floor about an hour ago? She just woke up for crying out loud! She needs her rest. She is not doing any scheming for the rest of the night!"

Serena rolled her eyes at his dramatics, but Blair turned to look at him with nothing but adoration in her chocolate eyes. He clearly cared so much for her still.

"I'm fine Chuck," Blair insisted. "I really need to...I mean, I want to help Serena with this. She's my best friend."

"You can help her tomorrow or something. It's getting late and I don't need you fainting again," Chuck retorted. "I'm going to take care of you like you took care of me."

Blair took his hands in hers and stared at him with her doe eyes, careful to frame her face with the perfect pout.

"Chuck," she purred, saying his name like a plea.

Chuck groaned. "You win Waldorf, but I'm staying here to keep an eye on you two. You can plan your schemes as much as you want tonight, but you are staying in bed. You will not execute your plans until tomorrow and that is absolutely non-negotiable."

"Yes sir!" Serena shouted dramatically as Blair fell into a fit of giggles.


"Hello?" Georgina spoke into her phone.

"Hey! It's Nate," he answered on the other end of the line. "I...Thank you for bringing Vanessa back to me."

There was a slight pause.

"You're welcome. Now, is that all?" she asked, a crispness creeping into her voice.

Georgina didn't want to be so cold towards him, but she needed to completely destroy any relations between them. When she had seen Vanessa and Nate kissing earlier in the day, something inside of her had snapped. Her heart was racing uncontrollably and she felt all the heat in her body explode through her head. She knew it was jealousy, but why she had such a feeling was beyond her. Georgina Sparks was not jealous of anyone and certainly not of Vanessa Abrams. Georgina Sparks had not fallen for the golden-haired boy because Georgina Sparks did not fall in love at least not anymore. Once had been more than enough.

"No," Nate informed her.

"Well?" Georgina urged for him to continue.

"Never mind. Just thank you," he repeated.

He hung up before she could even utter a word, although honestly, she had no idea what to say.


"This plan is going to work S! I just know it!" Blair exclaimed, already feeling much better than she had before.

"Thank you B," Serena echoed her excitement. "Let's run through it one more time though."

Chuck rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, but did I miss the part where Blair explained the scheme in Spanish? You've asked her to go over it like six times already!"

"Five," Serena corrected him.

"Whatever sis," he drawled. "Now, listen closely. You will get access to Dan's computer and save whatever writing files you may need on the USB key Blair will provide you with. We will end up making another copy of his work later. One copy will be sent to publications like The New York Times and the other will be given to Nate. We all know his grandfather has connections at Yale. He can show Dan's work to the English department. Getting him published instead is our backup plan of course. Yale will notice him then."

Blair smiled at the fact that Chuck was getting involved in their scheming. She missed scheming with him, although she knew part of his reason for involving himself so deeply was to push his nightmares as far from his mind as possible. She knew him well. He always ran; found escapes. Confrontation was a sore spot not to be dwelled upon.

"You sure you want to ask Nate to help us Chuck?" Blair asked. "I think it's better if I do it."

Chuck frowned. "I've got it Blair. I think it would help with...my condition."

Serena peered at him in confusion, but Blair knew where he was coming from. Nate had always been his closest friend. Perhaps making things right with Nate again would help with the healing process. Blair was just thrilled Chuck was willing to take a step on the road to recovery.

"Chuck will do it," the brunette informed Serena.

"I do have some questions though ladies. This gets Dan into Yale most likely, but why are we not scheming instead to get Blair into Yale?"

Blair remained silent upon hearing his question.

"I don't want Yale anymore," she said confidently before changing the topic immediately. "What other questions do you have?"

Chuck pursed his lips. Blair didn't want to go to Yale anymore? Something was definitely out of place, but he couldn't place his finger on it just yet. Whatever it was though, he was going to figure it out.

"Also, how does this get Dan and Serena back together? I couldn't care less, but apparently the two of you do."

"Well, helping Dan will make him grateful towards Serena maybe," Blair started.

"Hardly," Chuck responded. "Humphrey is stubborn as hell when it comes to getting help from other people, especially when connections or money is involved."

Blair shifted slightly and pulled the covers closer towards her. She knew what Chuck was saying was true, but she needed Dan to get accepted into Yale for the sake of her mission.

"Right, but you never know," Blair insisted. "People change. As for ensuring that they get back together, we need to get rid of Miss Carr."

"But she won't break up with him," Serena contributed.

"No," Chuck answered. "But if he broke up with her?"

Blair smirked. "She would have nothing else to stay for."

"Leave that to me. I know exactly how to convince Humphrey to come back to you sis," Chuck offered.

"Why are you hogging all the tasks?" Blair whined.

He reached over to tuck a loose curl behind her ear before answering.

"Because I think I might need this. Scheming could bring me back to the way I was," he said, a mixture of both sadness and hope in his husky voice.

Blair wanted to smile at the possibility, but her mind wouldn't allow it. Suddenly, she felt as if she were back in the white room again except this time Abby did not appear. Instead she heard the soft whisper of her voice. We cannot turn back the hands of time. We cannot turn back the hands of time. We cannot turn back the hands of time.


Georgina shot up in bed at the sound of the doorbell. Beads of sweat were trickling down her skin, revealing the remnants of her nightmare. She had been replaying the scene over and over again in her head. She had combed her hair until it shone that day. She even picked out a new outfit for the occasion. It was the day she was going to tell Jake how she felt about him.

Georgina approached the boy with her card in hand. She had been waiting for Valentine's Day to arrive. She knew it would be the happiest day of her life. Her classmate Candy had told her that Jake had a crush on her too. She had been over the moon when she had heard the news. Jake had a crush on her!

"Hi Jake," she said shyly as she approached him.

"Hey," he greeted her. "Jessica, right?"

"Georgina," she corrected him, smiling.

She had been too happy to care.

"Is that card for me?" Jake asked, motioning towards the envelope in her hand.

"Yes," she answered, her hands shaking slightly as she handed it to him.

She watched him lift the flap of the envelope and slide the card out of its pocket. It had happened in a flash, but to her it had been an eternity. She heard her heart roaring in her ears and failed to notice that a lot of students had gathered round.

"Jake, will you be my Valentine? I like you a lot. Georgina," he read out loud.

Georgina blushed, but her face fell immediately when she heard laughter.

"She actually fell for it," Candy shouted, doubling over with laughter.

The blond beauty then turned towards the rest of the students who were gathered to watch the scene unfold before them.

"Georgina Sparks actually thought Jake Windsor would fall in love with her!" she announced.

Everyone burst out laughing, including Jake. Georgina stood there trembling, willing herself not to cry, but the first tear fell anyway.

Candy patted her on the shoulder in fake concern.

"Are you crying? I'm sorry for laughing at you and humiliating you in front of everyone."

Georgina looked up for a brief moment about to accept her apology when Candy spoke once more.

"Not!"

The crowd burst into laughter upon hearing Candy's statement. Something inside of her snapped then and Georgina stalked over to the blond, wiping her tears from her eyes on the way over. She grabbed the girl's shoulders and shoved her hard up against the wall.

"Congratulations bitch. You're now on my list," she seethed.

The students grew quiet and murmured amongst themselves. Meanwhile, Candy had slid to the floor, clearly afraid of the girl before her.

"As for the rest of you," Georgina warned as she spun around to face the other students. "Take this as a warning. Never cross Georgina Sparks. Believe me. There will be hell to pay."

With that, she had walked off with her head held high.

Georgina smiled slightly at the memory. She had ended up keeping her end of the bargain. Candy was so afraid of her that she had transferred schools and no one ever dared cross her again. Everyone feared her and Georgina was more than fine with that. Emotions were a liability. Love was a liability and she had learned that at a young age. Living a life where everyone feared you, however, was often a lonely one. To this day, the heinous laughter of her classmates still haunted her and it was the only thing that fueled the continuation of her facade.

She heard the front door open then and she crawled out of bed immediately. Someone was trying to break into her house! She opened the bedroom door and screamed.

"Hey! Calm down!" Nate cried. "It's me. I have a key, remember?"

He held her against his chest and she released the breath she had no idea she had been holding.

"Did you have that nightmare again?" Nate asked.

Georgina nodded against his shirt. She had only told him that there was a nightmare that constantly haunted her, but he didn't know the details. No one could ever know about her humiliation. Then, people would actually understand why she was such a cold-hearted bitch. It would make people see that she was actually quite vulnerable. No. Georgina Sparks would never let that happen.

She pulled back from their embrace. "Nate? What are you doing here?"

"I miss you," he said without missing a beat.

"What are you talking about Nate? What you and I had was purely physical. You have Vanessa now."

Nate forced her to look at him and caressed the curve of her cheeks.

"My mind knows that, but..."

"Nate, I need you to leave," she whispered.

"Vanessa and I almost had sex, but I couldn't bring myself to go through with it. I don't even know why! I'm as confused as you are!" he shouted.

Emotions are a liability. Love is a liability. She continued to chant inside her head.

"I'm not confused about us. The sex was great. We were fuck buddies Nate! We can never be anything more than that!" she yelled.

Hurt flashed in his eyes for a moment, but he quickly masked his emotions. He kissed her hard on the lips and thrust his tongue inside her mouth, tasting her. She kissed him back with the same urgency as a soft moan escaped from the hollow of her throat. Nate pulled back suddenly, leaving her with a feeling of emptiness once again.

"You're right," Nate whispered as he forced himself to hold back his tears. "We were just fuck buddies. I belong with Vanessa."

It was clear that Georgina didn't love him in the way that he seemed to have fallen for her. He would leave with his head held high though. He turned to leave then and Georgina stood frozen in place until she heard the front door slam shut. She crumbled to the ground and did the one thing she never allowed anyone see her do. She cried.