A/N: Sorry for the delay! (since for some bizarre reason I've actually been updating pretty regularly, lol) It just didn't happen last weekend and this week was CRAZY with school stuff. But here I am now, so…please forgive? I think you guys will like this one. It's much lighter than the previous chaps. Please review!

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

Ch.9—

Shit.

How did this happen? When? Without him noticing? Was he so caught up in fixing the situation with his father that he didn't realize it until it was too late?

Because he knew Blair Waldorf so wasn't sitting alone in the back of his limo with him. Again. With another delicious dress on. That, while it didn't cling to her body like the last one did, still stopped a few inches above her knees and rode a little higher still because of the slightly lazy way she was sitting.

Because that would be dangerous.

That would cause blood to rush to his lower regions and for him to tense up.

That would make him start to sweat.

Her neckline wasn't low cut and she was even wearing a jacket to conceal her form and long graceful arms.

But that bun she was wearing left much of her neck exposed, and for some reason he would never be able to comprehend, seeing her bare knees so close to him did crazy things to him – like making his mind very one-track.

He took a deep breath and turned to look out the window, seeking some sort of solace, hoping he wouldn't develop too much of a boner before they reached their destination – or at all till he got home.

Father. Lily. Dad alive. Serena sneaking around. Dan being Blair's boyfriend.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Blair has a boyfriend and it isn't you, you perv.

Good thoughts, he assured himself. Some heartbreaking, some that would make any sane person mind-boggled over the situation, and definitely some that involved a huge moral dilemma.

Excellent, he thought, satisfied. He didn't have to keep his eyes pinned to the scene outside his window any longer. He could safely look back inside the car, and even at Blair, without fearing her concealed body would turn him on to the point of embarrassment.

He attempted it and conveniently found Blair tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, slowly bringing her hand down to rest in her lap.

He stifled a groan and rolled his eyes, adjusting himself in his seat.

Blair looked at him a little strangely, uncertain as to what exactly was wrong with him. He'd been acting subtly on edge since just a minute or so after they'd gotten inside the limo. At first she thought it was just because their plan had suddenly blown up in their faces with the appearance of Andrew Tyler and the disappearance of Lola and Ivy.

But she was starting to doubt that possibility. Especially since almost right after the events of losing their decoys Chuck had come to the conclusion that his P.I. was obviously behind the whole scheme that made his father go into hiding to begin with. At least somewhat.

Chuck had instructed his driver to return to the brothel and that had been it.

His behavior now didn't make any sense at all.

"Chuck?" she tilted her head in concern and a little suspicion.

He turned his head to look at her and raised his eyebrows, clearly holding back some sort of…difficulty he was dealing with.

It bothered her that she didn't know what it was.

"Are you okay?" she asked, laughing a little because it was kind of funny to see him like this.

"Of course," he managed. "Why?" he added lamely, cursing himself for asking because he hadn't the slightest idea on how he would answer her further inquiry.

"You seem…agitated." She gestured to how stiff his lower half appeared. His legs looked like they were engraved in stone.

"I just want this whole thing to be over with," he said honestly, forcing his train of thought to switch gears to what should be the reason for his restlessness. "I never expected this kind of deception from Tyler. We trusted him for years."

She seemed to accept it, because her eyes softened and her eyebrows smoothed out. She sank back into her seat and turned her gaze out the window on her side of the car.

As quiet as he could manage, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

It had been far too long since he'd gotten laid. Problem was he only wanted Blair Waldorf and she wasn't available.

Clearly his penis was punishing him.

It was exciting seeing the takedown. It was heartwarming seeing the sweet reunion between father and son. It wasn't even awkward in the slightest that she was still in the room.

Of course then she'd been ushered out into the hallway so Bart and Chuck could tell the police what they knew.

There really wasn't any other reason for her to be there.

She and Dan were on good terms again, but that didn't mean some extra time together wouldn't do them some good. Besides, she liked hanging out with him.

She could go home now. She should go home. She should call him at the very least. Right now. Tell him she was leaving and she would have the rest of the day off. With him heading off to Rome soon, they needed quality time together if they were going to last the summer.

That thought shocked her because it told her that deep down she didn't see long term in her future with Dan.

But that couldn't be right… could it?

She shook herself of her troubling thoughts, determined now to go home and solidify and strengthen her relationship with Dan.

But when she lifted her head up she caught Chuck's stare from the inside the room he stood with the door half-open. His eyes were hot; they were smoldering. She couldn't look away if she tried.

Her stomach dropped as he excused himself without looking away and started walking towards her.

At first guilt settled in her chest because she didn't need to be there anymore and she was probably just being a nuisance even in her keeping out of the way because wasn't family and she wasn't the authorities. She was just a tag along, a partner in crime that had already fulfilled her duties.

But the closer he got the more it dissipated, and the hotter she felt. She felt the flames and the ice. She felt a little dizzy; and, she would deny it later, but she felt fluttering erupt inside her. She felt the butterflies.

From one look he did this to her.

"You know you don't have to be here anymore," he whispered, as if talking any louder would break the spell that had been cast over them. "You can leave… if you want to. You don't have to stay," he breathed, becoming transfixed on her himself.

She opened her mouth, aware that she was supposed to say something in response, but her mind was a blank slate. All she could feel was the warmth of her skin and the heat of his eyes. It was overpowering her. It had taken hold of her ability to speak.

Something clicked inside him and he decided the last thing he wanted was to spend the rest of the day without her, even when he still needed to truly embrace his father, still needed that reunion.

For the first time since he'd caught her gaze he took his eyes off of her.

She thought the spell would be broken; they both did.

But it wasn't. If anything, it intensified. He took her hand in his and gently ran his thumb over the top, amazed and enthralled by the softness of her skin. He lifted his eyes back to hers and a moment later so did she.

"Actually…" he began, nearly choking on his own breath.

She gulped.

"Andrew Tyler worked for my father a lot longer than he did for me."

Her eyes widened slightly, wondering if she was interpreting what he was saying correctly, what he might be alluding to.

"The police will probably be talking to him for awhile yet…"

She blinked and her eyebrows furrowed slightly, the hazy state of her brain clouding her comprehension further.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" he asked so softly she could barely breathe. His voice was stifling. Her fingers tingled in his grasp.

She just stared at him for what felt like an eternity, but he didn't falter. Finally, she nodded slowly.

"Yes," she managed.

As daring as it might have been, in that moment it felt natural. It felt right. He lifted her hand to his lips, never breaking eye contact, and pressed a lingering kiss to the smooth skin he'd ached to touch more intimately.

Her gasp got caught in the trap her throat had recently created.

Slowly he brought her hand back to her side and released it, moving his hand to the small of her back, only turning to look down the hallway once they figured out how to move their feet again and found they had to turn the corner so as to avoid walking into either a wall or a closed door.

It was the most stifling, most exhilarating experience she'd been through in months, maybe in over a year. Dan or anyone – or anything else was the furthest thing from her mind. And to him, despite his recent familial discovery… a meteor could have fallen to the ground and obliterated the earth and he wouldn't have been able to look away.

"I want to show you something," he said softly, a sweet, genuine, breathtaking smile starting to take over his face.

"What?" she asked, dazed and starry-eyed by his dreamy, silk voice.

They were on the other side of the building now. It had taken so long to get there, especially since they had been walking so slow and had unknowingly clasped hands just before they reached the last long hallway.

"My father told me about it, but I haven't seen it yet," he said, clear excitement building in his voice.

She fought a smile and finally gave into it as he reached forward to open the huge double mahogany doors. She turned and looked at what they'd discovered.

Her breath caught in her throat.

"Oh, Chuck."

The hand he'd dropped to open the doors clasped hers again. He was breathless as well.

It was a garden; an enclosed jungle; a greenhouse that looked anything but. And it was inside the building. He didn't know how, but it was. There were flowers of every kind, trees that were so tall you almost couldn't see the tops. Butterflies fluttered around the more vibrant plants and a stone path wound its way throughout the paradise.

It was magical.

Chuck tugged on her hand gently and she smiled, following through the wonderland. Little birds flew overhead and sang their sweet love song. Blair spotted it before he did – an elegantly crafted bench swing on the other side of a pond pebbled with lily pads and a small family of water birds.

They sat there on that swing, oblivious of any world outside of this one. Her head sank down onto his shoulder, and his heart beat faster than it ever had. He could not blame it on the humidity in the jungle.

"It's so beautiful," she whispered breathily. "I never want to leave."

He swallowed and knew it had to be said. He would regret it forever, even if he knew once he said it the spell would be broken, that it would all be over and they would go back to being the people not only inside the brothel, but outside it, back in Manhattan, back to his loneliness and her significant other.

But his heart hammered within him to say it. He couldn't refuse the request.

"Blair," he began softly, gently, as if he was afraid he'd break her resting against him if he spoke too loudly.

"What?" she asked, her voice still so dreamy, as it had been ever since they'd walked into this other world.

He shifted slightly and she lifted her head, the beginnings of warning bells going off in her head, but for the most part she ignored them.

"Blair…" He forced himself to breathe evenly as he turned to face her more directly. She turned with him and searched his eyes as he searched hers, penetrating past any façade, seeing into the soul.

"I…" he swallowed.

"What?" she breathed, losing oxygen again, and realizing that in that moment what he had to say she needed to know. She craved the knowledge of it. She was sure she wouldn't be able to live until she heard it.

"I still love you," he breathed, desperation bleeding through his words. He was pleading for her return, even as she belonged to someone else.

Her eyes widened slightly and her lips parted, and with hardly any feeling in her hand she lifted it to cup his face.

He swallowed, scared to death of what her answer would be and more in love with her than he'd ever been.

She looked into his eyes, into his soul, and abandoned her loyalty.

She leaned forward and kissed him.

A/N: You're welcome. ;)

FYI though – don't get too comfortable. The happy ending isn't quite in sight yet.