"Serena!" Blair called out for her best friend as she tapped her high heeled shoe and smoothed out the skinny jeans that Serena made her buy in France.

"I'm here!" Serena said opening coming from down the hall.

"B you look amazing! I knew those were perfect for you," Serena said after she finished hugging her friend.

"I wanted to be comfortable on the plane, that's why I wore them. Not because I'm starting to like these jeans," Blair said, smiling at her best friend.

"Oh sure. So how was the flight?" Serena and Blair headed to the kitchen.

"It was nice, I actually slept most of the time."

"Is Shawn coming for dinner?" Serena asked.

"Yeah he should be coming soon. Who else is coming?" Blair asked.

"The Humphreys, Nate and Vanessa, and of course my mom and Eric," Serena listed.

"Are you sure that's a good combination?" Blair raised her eyebrows, "Exes at dinner together? Won't it be awkward?"

"No I don't think so. Whatever Nate and Vanessa had is over now, believe me." Serena laughed.

"If you're sure," Blair said in a singsong voice.

At precisely 7PM, the Humphreys arrived at the apartment. Blair put on her best society smile and made an effort to be nice. Rufus and Lilly went off to the kitchen to check on how dinner was coming along, leaving Serena, Blair, Eric, Jenny and Dan who all exchanged greetings.

"Blair Waldorf in jeans, who would have thought," Dan said.

"Dan Humphrey wearing a decent outfit, who would have thought," Blair said glancing over his new designer clothes.

"Did you just compliment me?" Dan asked, shocked.

"Oh, God! I think I did!" Blair said sounding just as shocked.

"See Dan, I told you that you looked nice," Jenny said to her brother.

As they continued to talk the elevator dinged and out walked Shawn, looking impressed by the various works of art around the apartment.

"Shawn you made it!" Serena said, engulfing the boy in a hug.

"Hey," Blair said, hugging Shawn as well.

"Oh right," Serena said turning to the confused faces of Dan, Jenny and Eric, "This is Shawn, Shawn this is Eric, Jenny and Dan."

They all shook hands.

"So you're Dan Humphrey. I hear you're going to NYU," Shawn said to Dan.

"Yup I am Dan Humphrey. I'm shocked you've heard of me," Dan said.

"I go to NYU as well, this will be my second year," Shawn offered.

Shawn and Dan then broke off into a conversation, Blair turned to Serena.

"Now look. Shawn is falling for Dan just like Nate did. What is it with that guy?" Blair sounded frustrated.

"See that proves Dan is not that bad," Serena said.

"I guess you're right. No what am I saying! This is Dan Humphrey we're talking about here!"

Serena laughed and went to go greet Nate who had just walked into the room.

"Get a room!" Blair said to Serena who was kissing Nate.

"So, um Blair how was your summer?" Jenny said, for lack of anything better to ask.

"It was great thanks," Blair said. Jenny looked at her expectantly. "How was your summer?"

"I really enjoyed myself." Jenny smiled timidly at Blair.

Blair looked at the girl in front of her. She no longer saw Little J from Brooklyn that was one of her minions that she couldn't care less for. She saw Jenny Humphrey who was going to take over as queen. She recognized that same energy in Jenny that she had once upon a time. She knew Jenny was no Blair Waldorf but she had potential.

"So are you looking forward to school?" Blair asked Jenny.

"I'm not sure, I mean I don't know how people will react to me being queen," Jenny said honestly.

"Well the only advice I can offer is to just…be strong. Don't let them use your weaknesses against you, and if you need any help…you can always come to me," Blair said, which took a lot of effort from her.

"Really?" Jenny looked curiously at Blair.

"Yes really. Don't sound so surprised, J. I can be nice," Blair said smiling.

"I highly doubt that," said Vanessa who just walked in.

"Oh hello Vanessa, nice to see you," Blair said fake cheerily.

"You're kidding me, you don't think it's nice to see me," Vanessa said.

"Of course not. But I was nice, wasn't I?" Blair raised her eyebrow.

"Well…I mean…I guess you were," Vanessa finally concluded.

"And that proves my point," Blair said, going to go freshen up.

"Chuck! What are you doing here?" Serena asked as her stepbrother entered the room.

"You're not happy to see me?" Chuck smirked.

"No...I'm happy!" Serena said quickly, "We just weren't expecting you."

"I called," he stated plainly, "looks like everyone is here. Vanessa even brought her boyfriend it seems."

Serena turned to see what Chuck was talking about. A few feet away Vanessa was talking with Shawn.

"Oh that's not Vanessa's boyfriend," Serena said.

"Then who is he?" Chuck asked.

"I met him in France. He goes to NYU," Serena said.

"I heard you talking about me," Shawn said, as he and Vanessa joined the conversation.

"Shawn this is Chuck Bass, Chuck this is Shawn Adams," Serena said gesturing back and forth between them.

"Nice to meet you," Shawn said, extending his hand to Chuck while discreetly eyeing him over. Chuck shook his hand.

"Dinner is ready!" Lilly announced.

"Where is Blair?" Dan asked all of the sudden.

Chuck had to immediately regain his composure after hearing the name Blair. He wanted to ask if she was there, where she was, but waited for somebody to offer up the information.

"I'll go get her," Shawn offered and headed up the stairs.

When Shawn got upstairs he ran into Blair exiting Serena's room.

"Dinner's ready," Shawn offered up lamely.

"And you came all the way up here to tell me that?" Blair searched Shawn's eyes.

"And well…um…Chuck Bass is downstairs," Shawn said.

"What?" Blair said clearly confused, "Nobody said he would be here."

"I don't think they knew. They were setting an extra place at the table for him. But my concern is you. Will you be okay?" Shawn asked her.

"Yes. I will be fine," Blair said with a defiant look as if she dared herself to get worked up over the presence of Chuck Bass. When they got downstairs there were two seats left, one across from Chuck and one across from Serena. Shawn pulled out the chair across from Serena and next to Lilly for Blair to take, taking the seat across from Chuck for himself.

They were each served a salad and once again the small talk began.

"So Shawn, where do you go to college?" Rufus asked Shawn as he passed Serena the pepper.

"I'm going into my second year at NYU," Shawn said again that day.

"So you'll be with Dan, Vanessa and Blair next year," Lilly observed.

"I'm always glad to meet new people who go to NYU," Shawn said sincerely.

"So how do you all know each other?" Lilly asked referring to Shawn knowing Blair and Serena.

Shawn looked to Blair for her permission to enclose the details of their meeting. Blair gave him a look that said, "Go right ahead."

"Well I met Blair on the plane to France. Then we realized that we were both going to Lyon, and after the eight-hour flight we became friends and Blair invited my mother and me over for dinner. When Serena and Nate came to Lyon, Blair introduced me to them," Shawn said simply.

Blair felt uncomfortable at the table. She could feel Chuck's eyes on her. Wanting her to look into his eyes, but she resisted.

"I suppose you were in Lyon to visit your father, Blair. How is he?" Lilly asked.

"My father is very well, thank you." Blair smiled at Lilly.

Once the main dish was served everyone pretty much broke up into their own conversations. Jenny, Dan, and Vanessa were discussing Jenny's new role as queen. Eric was asking Nate for some advice. Lilly and Rufus were talking in hushed tones. Chuck was eavesdropping on Blair and Shawn as he pretended to listen to Serena describes her adventures in Europe with Nate.

"I thought you liked this dish," Shawn said to Blair as she pushed the food around her plate.

"I do, I just had a big lunch," Blair smiled weakly.

Shawn glanced up at Chuck and he turned his head quickly. He didn't want either Shawn or Blair to know that he was listening.

"Blair, don't let him ruin your evening. Enjoy yourself," Shawn whispered, giving her hand a little squeeze before returning to his food.

Blair knew that Shawn was right, so she finally found the courage to look up at Chuck who was staring at her. She raised her eyebrow and started talking to Nate.

"So Chuck, how is Elle?" Lilly asked her stepson in what was meant to be a quiet way but the whole table silenced.

"She is doing fine, she went to the doctor this morning," Chuck added, avoiding Blair's gaze.

"How have you been holding up? I know from experience pregnant woman are hard to deal with," Rufus said.

"Most of the time I'm okay," Chuck looked up at Blair, "but I have been better."

After dinner when they were all sitting around chatting and sipping drinks, Chuck found the courage to talk to Blair.

"Waldorf," he said in greeting.

"Bass," she said looking up at him.

"How have you been?" Chuck asked her.

"Good," she said, not bothering to ask him about himself.

"That's good. I see you made a new friend," Chuck said, glancing jealously at Shawn.

"Chuck…" Blair began.

"I don't need an explanation," Chuck said, frustrated with himself more than her.

"Who said you were going to get one?" Blair asked him.

"Blair, look I—

"Chuck! Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!" said Elle who had just stormed into the room.

As soon as Blair saw Elle and her clearly very pregnant stomach, she felt sick to her own stomach. For a second there she had forgotten Elle was even in the picture. She backed away from Chuck so he wouldn't see the hurt in her eyes.

"Do you need something Elle?" Chuck said, trying to control the anger in his voice.

"I need some more money," she said to him expectantly.

"Here," he said, hading her a debit card rather harshly, searching around the room for Blair.

When Blair walked away from Chuck she went to Serena who was talking with Dan and Shawn. Serena looked apologetically at Blair for Elle's unannounced arrival, which Serena had gotten used to over time.

"Oh my gosh do you guys remember that party we had in France?" Serena asked Nate, Shawn and Blair, clearly trying to get Blair's mind off of Chuck and Elle.

"That was hardly a party," Blair commented.

"Didn't we all decide to stay in that day," Nate started.

"And Blair mentioned that she never heard any of my dad's songs like officially," Shawn added.

"So Nate put one on with his iPod in the speakers," Blair continued, "And you taught Serena that dance," Blair smiled despite the fact that she was upset about 30 seconds before.

"Dance? What dance?" Dan asked clearly intrigued.

"You don't want to see it man," Nate warned.

"Oh please, Nate. You know you wanted to join in," Serena laughed.

"Why don't you just show the dance?" Eric asked.

"Yes, why not?" asked Chuck who just crept up out of nowhere.

"You guys have to promise not to make fun of me," Serena said, eyeing everyone.

"We promise," the all chorused.

"This ought to be good," Blair said.

Nate went to the speakers hidden in the room and plugged in his iPod. Everyone made space for Serena as he scrolled through the songs.

"Wait! Shawn, I can't do it alone," Serena said.

Shawn got up and positioned himself next to Serena. They waited for the start of the song; an angry beat that set the mood for the dance. The dance consisted of a lot of jumping arm motions, chest pops, sliding and turns. It looked complicated but was actually easy to catch on to. Shawn danced with an ease and energy of an expert, getting into character and looking angry. He looked at everyone while dancing, but kept his gaze focused on Blair, mainly for her entertainment, something that did not go unnoticed by Chuck. While Serena was able to get all the moves right, her angry face was nothing but comical. Serena looked at Nate the entire time, he was the only one making an effort not to be amused by her dancing. Everyone burst out laughing as Serena and Shawn posed on the final beat.

"Wow, that was…" Dan started.

"Hilarious, Serena you make an interesting hip-hop dancer," Jenny said giggling.

"You should have seen your face!" Eric said.

"Shawn you were really good," Vanessa said, looking at him in a way that Blair did not like.

"I'm impressed sis, who knew you could move like that," Chuck said, smirking at her.

"You all said you wouldn't laugh," Serena said, pouting a little.

"Come on S, how could you expect us not to?" Blair said laughing.

"B, you're just mad because you didn't learn the dance," Serena said.

"That's funny," Blair said in a way that said she thought the opposite.

"Good job Serena. I didn't know if you would remember the whole thing," Shawn said.

"She's been practicing, I would know," Nate said smiling.

"Are you sure you're talking about the same thing?" Chuck said.

"Ugh gross guys," Jenny said as her and Eric went off to find something else to do.

"B, are you staying the night?" Serena asked Blair.

"I might, I don't know," Blair said, staring off at Vanessa and Shawn talking a few feet away.

"So you're a dancer," Vanessa said to Shawn.

"Well I was raised surrounded by music. It was bound to happen," Shawn smiled politely at the girl.

"So you go to NYU, maybe I'll see you around," Vanessa suggested.

"It's a possibility. Are you excited for college?" he asked her.

"I actually am…" Vanessa went on about what she expected from NYU.

Blair stared off at Vanessa and Shawn and felt that uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. It was not possible that she was jealous. Shawn was just her friend, why would she feel like that. There it was again, she felt it when Vanessa reached out and touched his arm. Then Blair recognized what was happening. She was remembering Chuck and Vanessa and how much that had hurt. How Vanessa could just get people to open up to her, when she wasn't being judgmental. Vanessa had Nate; Vanessa had Chuck, now she wanted Shawn? The only friend Blair had at NYU would soon hate her probably. Blair remembered how Chuck had treated her after he spent time with Vanessa. Vanessa did not like Blair, and had no problem saying why, even to Blair's closest friends.

"Spying on Vanessa?" a voice came from behind her.

Blair didn't even have to turn around to know who it was, so she didn't.

"What do you want Chuck?" she asked without turning around. Suddenly Chuck was in front of her.

"Look, about what I was going to say earlier—

"I don't care," Blair cut him off.

"Blair, if you would just listen—

"There's nothing to listen to Chuck! I haven't spoken to you in months, and now that I am you make comments on things you know nothing about."

"Then let's change that. Don't shut me out Blair. I mean I don't expect anything to change just…have dinner with me tomorrow," Chuck concluded.

"What?" Blair was not expecting that.

"Just one dinner alone. You and me," Chuck continued, pleading with his eyes.

"Where?" Blair asked.

"You choose,"

"Fine. My place," she said.

"Why there?" Chuck smirked.

"So if you don't make it, nobody will know I got stood up," her eyes widened when she realized she had said this aloud.

"Blair…" his eyes burned into hers.

"Just be there," she said turning around.

"I'll see you at seven," he said as he watched her walk away.

Author's Note: Yeah so this chapter took a while but it's done. I have like three huge projects to work on, but I'm going to write more on the bus tomorrow so I should have this updated by tomorrow afternoonish. Thank you for the great reviews!!! As far as this chapter goes, Blair has not forgiven Chuck completely. We'll see what happens. =) Oh and that whole dance thing was something I added for me personally. Tell me if you liked it or not.

Reviews please!!!