It was the first day she would be forced to see him. It had been two days since their fight and her decision to remain distant. Secretly, she couldn't wait to see him. She wanted to watch his every move. What had he been doing? He had called her yesterday, but she didn't answer. It was late and he was most likely drunk.

She walked by the girls of the steps, still waiting patiently to socially destroy Penelope. She nodded her head ever so slightly in their direction; it was a way to show recognition, but complete superiority. She complimented herself on her brilliant tactic; win the game by pretending not to be a part of it.

As she approached the gates of Constance, she saw his limo pull up beside her, the door swinging open. "Morning, Waldorf," he said.

"Good morning, Chuck," she said in a voice completely devoid of enthusiasm or any emotion, as she kept walking, leaving him staring after her.

She immediately went into the bathroom and caught her breath. This was getting too difficult. His two words sent her into an emotional frenzy. This had to stop. She splashed some water on her face and raised her gaze to her reflection. It was no wonder Chuck hooked up with someone else, she practically had a double chin. She immediately regretted her decision to eat a bagel this morning. She could feel it sitting in her stomach, probably producing fat at that very moment. She felt disgusted with herself. Fleeing into a stall, she shoved her finger down her throat until her body convulsed, releasing her breakfast. She stood up slowly and went to class, feeling better already.

She made it through the whole day with no more Chuck sightings, thank God. She didn't know what she would do if she had to see him again.

She walked home and was delighted to hear that her mom was dating someone.

"Oh Blair, darling. You'll adore him!" she gushed, "He's a lawyer and he is dashing and hilarious! He's coming to dinner today so you can meet him."

To say that Blair was disappointed by her mother's choice of boyfriend would be an understatement. She was livid. He was not hilarious or dashing at all. He was short and balding and a hugger! How could her mother even be thinking about this? It was absurd! However, Blair's opinion of Cyrus Rose didn't discourage her mother in the slightest. She was hosting a dinner to introduce him to their closest friends on Friday.

The week flew by, and Blair had barely prepared for the torture that was this dinner. She was going to be forced to endure hours of his stories. Granted, she hadn't heard much from him, but it couldn't possibly be good. Since meeting him, she had only spoken to him in passing. He and her mother were always on their way out or on their way to bed, ew! How could she possibly get used to this?

Not to mention the fact that the entire van der Bass family was on the top of the guest list, which meant that Chuck would be in her house tonight.

As soon as she got home from school, she flew to her mother's side, barking orders at the caterers and berating the idiot florist who sent roses, which were entirely inappropriate for the occasion. She needed to do something to get her mind off of the impending doom. With two hours until dinner, Blair went to take a shower and get ready. She curled her hair and pulled half of it back. She chose a black Chanel mini dress with long sleeves. She paired it with two-toned Chanel stockings and pumps. It was polished and sophisticated, but still young and sexy. It was perfect. If only she didn't ruin the dress with her huge stomach. She tried to permanently suck in her stomach, but she always got tired. She couldn't stop staring at it in the mirror. She didn't realize how long she'd been looking at it, but she heard a knock on her door that pulled her out of her trance, "Hey B, it's me."

"Hey S. Did you meet him?"

Serena smiled and hugged Blair, "Blair, he doesn't seem that bad. He actually seems kind of nice, and funny."

"Blasphemy!" Blair yelled with a smile, "But really S, how can you say that? He's all wrong."

"Not everyone can be Gregory Peck."

"True, but I would settle for Charlie Chaplin over Cyrus!"

"Oh, come on. You've barely even spoken to him," Serena defended.

"Oh, but I've heard a lot of him!" Blair said with a disgusted look.

"You don't mean…"

"These walls are thinner than they seem!" Blair said with a scowl.

"Oh my God! Not Eleanor, she wouldn't."

"Oh, believe me, she would. A lot."

"Ew," Serena said, as a look of recognition passed over her face. "Hey, I saw you scrutinizing yourself."

Blair rolled her eyes, "I was not scrutinizing, I was just assessing."

"Blair, do we need to have this talk again?" Serena said sincerely.

"S, I'm fine, really."

"Well, I'm going to make sure of it. Chuck said that you might have fallen back into bad habits."

Chuck! What could he know? How could he know? He was actually paying attention to her. Shit, now she had both Serena and Chuck watching her, she would have to eat tonight. She didn't plan on it, but with them watching, she had no options. She would just have to control herself, eat small portions, no dessert, and she would be fine. She could do this. "What did Chuck say?"

"Nothing really, he just said that you looked too thin and that I should keep my eyes open, which I will, but if you say your fine, then I trust you," Serena added.

"I am. Now, let's get down there before my mother kills me," Blair said, leading the way downstairs.

She walked up to her mother, "Blair, so glad you could join us. Although, it would've been nice for you to be here to greet our guests…"

"I'm sorry, I was just finishing up getting ready," Blair apologized, looking at the floor. She saw two large brown shoes approach her.

"Cyrus, it's nice to see you again," she said as he pulled her reluctant body into a hug.

"Not enough!" he said as she attempted to pull away. She threw him a very fake smile.

She escaped after about five minutes of small talk to find Serena. As she rounded a corner too quickly, she bumped into the back of a man who was leaning against the wall, "Oh, excuse me sir. I'm so-" she stopped when he turned to face her.

"Oh that's okay Blair, I'm sure we can think of some way for you to make it up to me," Chuck said with a smirk.

"A heartfelt apology?" she suggested.

"Not quite, but it's a good start."

"And yet, sometimes apologies can't fix the problem," she said, clearly no longer talking about their collision. With that, she walked away to find Serena, who was more than happy to save her from further awkwardness.

She felt her phone vibrating and saw that she had a new text from Marc. They had been on friendly terms still.

Where R U? We need 2 tlk.

-Marc

She contemplated not responding, but thought better of it and invited him to join them for dinner. She could use some more moral support and he had been a good friend. After the whole kiss debacle, he apologized profusely and stood by her. She still didn't feel comfortable talking to him about Chuck, but she laid all her other problems on him. Slowly, he had become one of her closest friends again.

"B, what are you doing?" Serena asked as she watched Blair send Marc an invitation.

"What do you mean?" Blair asked innocently.

"Blair, you know exactly what I mean. Chuck?"

"This isn't Chuck's home. This isn't Chuck's party. He doesn't get to dictate who comes here or doesn't. I invited Marc as a friend and if that makes Chuck uncomfortable then I'm afraid it's not my problem," she said in a tone that clearly said end-of-discussion.

Serena rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say B."

They mingled for a few more minutes, then she heard the elevator open and she and Serena went to greet Marc.

He ran up to them with a huge smile, showing his dimples.

"So what's the big news?" Blair asked.

"It's my mom, she's in remission!"

"That's fantastic!" Serena exclaimed, as Blair threw her arms around Marc. As her arms were around his neck and his hands strayed dangerously low on her waist, Blair's eyes met Chucks across the room. There was no questioning his thoughts, he was furious. His eyes were completely black and she noticed that his grip on his drink instantly tensed. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see his anger anymore.

He had no right to be angry. They were not together and Marc was just hugging her. He was ridiculous.

They sat at the table, Marc and Serena on either side of Blair, with Chuck directly across from her next to Eric and Bart. She put on a good show of being happy about her mother seeing Cyrus. All of their friends commented on what a beautiful family they were becoming. Blair smiled politely at all of their comments, while inside she was burning. He was not her family! She had a dad, or did they all forget about him just like her mother had? What was the worst was that her mother just let them call it a 'family'. She didn't even bother to correct them and explain that she and Cyrus had barely even been dating for two months! It was utterly infuriating.

She began her meal forcing down small bites, but as she seethed silently she became angrier and angrier and ate more and more. She was on her third helping of mashed potatoes when her mother raised her glass and called the room's attention on her.

"I can't tell you how happy we are that you could join us for dinner. We, that is Cyrus, myself and my daughter Blair, would like to take this opportunity to announce that we will be starting our own family. Cyrus and I are engaged!" she finished with a broad smile.

Everyone clapped and cheered, offering endless congratulations. Blair just sat there, mouth agape. After a few minutes she came to her senses and smiled lightly at Serena who had been looking at her, "I'm fine Serena. Really. This is great."

"B, you can talk to me," Serena offered.

"Yeah, Blair, we're here for you," Marc said putting his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm fine," she said as the caterers brought out desert. It was chocolate mousse, one of Blair's favorites. She had two servings and immediately went to the kitchen where she polished off a third. Each mouthful was relief. Cyrus was going to be her step-father and her mom didn't even bother to warn her. Blair walked through the crowd of the party and walked up to her room and into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

Slowly, she knelt down in front of the toilet and purged. She did it over and over again until she finally thought it was all gone. She heard a small knock on the door.

"Blair it's us," Marc called.

"Please unlock the door Blair," Serena said in a desperate voice.

"I'm fine, please just go. Serena please. I need to be alone right now," Blair called in a weak voice.

"Blair, I'm not leaving until I see that you're okay," Marc said.

She swung the door open and revealed herself, "happy?" she asked, eyebrows raised.

"No, B. I'll be happy when you start telling me how you feel," Serena said defiantly.

"Fine, I feel like I want to be left alone. I feel like I need some time to process everything and the two of you aren't making things easier. I feel like I would appreciate it if you both just gave me some space."

Serena had been through enough of Blair's tantrums to know that Blair wasn't going to talk tonight. "Fine B, but I'm always here if you need me."

"Me too," said Marc, as they turned to leave.

As soon as they were gone, she locked herself in the bathroom and sat down against the door listening to the guests saying goodbye. After about an hour, she heard her mother and Cyrus go to bed. Blair was finally alone. She stood up and held herself over her sink and let one tear escape. Nothing was right. She was alone, completely. She became consumed with her own self-pity and let sobs fly from her convulsing body. Her breathing was getting more and more strained. She couldn't help it as her sobs grew more and more severe. She snapped to attention when she heard a knock on her door bathroom door.

She kept quiet. "Blair, I know you're in there," Chuck called.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady, but was still having difficulty breathing.

"Could you maybe unlock the door, so I know you're not going to pass out, and then we can talk?"

"We have nothing to talk about," she wheezed.

"Please, just talk to me. I need to talk to you," he said, finally allowing his fear to show in his voice.

She dried her tears as best she could and fanned herself to make her redness go away. She was still breathing erratically, but she swung the door open and went to sit on her bed. He took a seat next to her. She placed her hands in her lap and stared at them. She watched as another hand joined hers. It was rough and calloused, but it managed to cradle hers gently. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said. She had repeated that line over and over again, every time she wasn't going to admit something.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," he said forcefully as he lifted her chin up to look at him, "Blair, I know what you're doing."

She snatched her hands from out of his hold, stood up and opened her bedroom door, "You can go now."

He walked over to her and she almost thought he was going to leave, until he slowly shut the door again and stayed hovering near her. "I'm not leaving," he said.

She sat back down on her bed and folded her arms across her chest, "What do you want from me Chuck?"

He looked at her as if she was an idiot, as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. He just shook his head, "Do you like Cyrus?" he asked abruptly.

"Yes," said Blair automatically, "he's the perfect addition to our family."

"Please tell me the truth."

"I loathe the man. He doesn't dress well, he's thrifty, he's short, he has a catchphrase. He just swoops in and my mom forgets all about me and my dad. You know, I didn't even know they were engaged. My mom didn't even tell me," she said bitterly.

"I'm sorry Blair," he said, sitting down next to her, a bit farther away than before. "Is that why you made yourself throw up?"

"I didn't," she lied.

"Come on Blair, you forget who you're talking to."

"I'm not talking about this," she said defiantly.

"When did it start again?" he asked.

"When do you think?" she spat. As soon as she realized her slip, she regretted it and looked down.

"Blair, I'm so sorry," he said sincerely.

"Stop. Stop saying that. I don't want to hear it," she said bitterly.

"Then tell me what I can say. What can I do to fix this, to fix us?" he asked as he grabbed her hands in his once again.

"There's nothing you can do," she said with a small smile.

"So, that's it then, huh? You're done with me?"

"I never even started with you, so I don't know how you can think that I would be done."

"So, in your version, you never even started with me, so you have no reason to be upset by what I was doing with that girl? Am I right?" he spat.

"Oh please," said Blair, shaking her head.

He just sat there, waiting for a response. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was an idiot. I should've trusted you. I was a moron, but, Blair, you have to understand. Please, just give me a chance. I miss you. Maybe we could just start out being friends."

She considered this for a minute or so, and she finally looked at him with tears in her eyes, "Okay," she said as she fell into a hug with him.

His embrace was tighter than she could ever remember. She just clung to his neck like a child. She let the tears fall as he pulled her onto her bed, so they were both sitting against the wall, her head resting on his shoulder. "Cyrus hugged me," Chuck said.

Blair looked up at him and let out a laugh, "I'm sorry I missed that."

They talked for a while about Cyrus and then moved onto school and the girls.

"Did your guy ever find anything on Penelope?" she asked. He shot her a devilish grin. "Tell me," she ordered.

It was good, but that would all be dealt with on Monday. Finally, she had something to smile about.

Blair let out a huge yawn and let herself slump down a bit. "I should let you get to sleep," Chuck said, getting up and finding his coat.

"Oh," she said, trying to hide her disappointment.

"Can I see you tomorrow?" he asked hopefully. "Will you answer my calls?"

She gave him a smile. "Of course."

"Good," he said as he opened the door, "But one more thing," he said turning around, "You're gorgeous and you don't need to hurt yourself. You are the most perfect person I know and I never want you to think anything else. Please call me or tell me if you ever think otherwise. I'll always be here."

He left before she had time to respond. Instead she just changed into pajamas and drifted off to a peaceful sleep.