Chapter Ten: The Dancing Hell and the Butterflies

Sew up my eyes, with the lies you sold me,
give me one last bitter taste of air…

now the fairytale's at an end…

It turns out the slipper doesn't fit,
and there is no ball,
life is not a simple thing,
there's no happily-ever-after at all.

--Amy Bidmead, "I Had A Childish Fantasy"

Chuck went down like a stone onto the hard marble floor, but not before grabbing Nate's sleeve and tugging hard. As he fell onto his side, Chuck whipped out his leg and caught Nate behind the knee. A seam gave and the sleeve tore from the jacket with an almighty rip; his leg gave out from under him, and, off-balance, Nate twisted around and careened into Blair. He grabbed her shoulders to stay upright, but her heels were no match for the sudden addition of his weight. She teetered; he stepped on her skirt and brought her down too.

Blair hit the floor with a deafening shriek. She jabbed her elbow into Nate's side, kicked him in the shin with her heel, and shoved him off her and onto his ass.

"Nate!" she exclaimed in outrage, sitting up. The bow on her shoulder had detached and she stared at it in utter horror.

Before Nate could say anything, Chuck tackled him from the side.

"What the hell was that for?" Chuck cried.

Nate pushed him back, trying to get some traction, and some dignity, from his spot on the floor.

"Oh my God, B!" Serena rushed over to help Blair stand.

The surrounding couples had stopped dancing to form a ring around the brawl.

"You slept with her?!" Nate cried indignantly. The tittering crowd was silenced, then exploded into uproar. His words also stunned Chuck for a moment, and Nate was able to wrestle his so-called best friend down onto his back. Chuck's silence was all the answer he needed. Goddamnit, he knew it. "You son of a bitch I aught to kill you!" he shouted.

"Oh my fucking God!" Blair screeched, with no thought to the mob that was quickly forming and could hear every word. She grasped her bow in one hand and her skirt in the other. "My dress!"

Half the train had detached from the back, thanks to Nate's stupid feet.

"Maybe we should talk about this without your hands around my neck," Chuck choked out. He brought his knee up with a jab and caught Nate in the chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. Nate spun to the side but kept his grip on Chuck's lapels, bringing the other guy with him.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Nate grunted hoarsely, his fist slamming into Chuck's side, to the glee of the surrounding crowd, who captured the carnage with video and pictures on their cell phones.

"Blair, it's okay, just come with me," Serena said, pulling her friend away from the boys who were rolling around on the floor, a jumble of fists, elbows, and knees. Serena had to get Blair away from the fight before the ruined dress stopped distracting her from what Nate was shouting at Chuck—because once Blair realized that they were airing her sex life in front of the entire Upper East Side…it would not be pretty. Serena battled her way through the tight ring of highschoolers that had formed, dragging Blair behind her, who was trying to hold her tattered dress together. Then Serena pushed her way through the mob of general onlookers and the parents and committee members who were trying to stop the fight.

"—Oh, man, did you just see that—!?"

"—shit, did they both sleep with her—?"

"—fight! Hey! A fight—!"

"—Archibald and Bass?! What a throw down—!"

"Get out of the way," Serena shouted, pushing her way through a group of Dalton boys who were hurrying toward the action.

"You don't understand," Blair moaned, clutching her train.

"Blair, it's going to be okay—"

"S, this is custom-made, my mom is going to kill me!" she wailed. "My Cotillion is ruined!"

"Jenny!" Serena exclaimed, catching sight of the blonde girl at the edge of the dance floor. "Jenny, Jenny—hey, hey we need you! Please?!"

Jenny stared at Blair's dress, and then back up at Serena's imploring face. "I—I have to go. I have my mom's thing," she said lamely.

"Jenny," Blair commanded.

Jenny's eyes snapped to Blair. She tried not to gulp. Fuck, this was all her fault. Why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut?

Blair's dark eyes were furious, barely containing the storm within. She shook her detached train and Jenny couldn't help blanching at the damage.

"Fix my dress and all is forgiven," Blair ground out. "You'll be off probation."

Jenny's heart thumped. It was all she wanted, but was it just a test? Did Blair know what she'd said to Nate? To all appearances the answer was no… If Blair ever did find out, probation would be the least of Jenny's worries.

God, but she hadn't known Nate would fly off the handle like that and attack Chuck! She'd thought he knew they were together—wouldn't they have told Nate first? And it was pretty obvious from just the way Chuck and Blair danced that something was going on. Plus the fact that they'd gone together…wasn't that meant to be taken as a signal to everyone? Weren't they laying claim to each other? Weren't they publicly stating their new relationship? That's what Jenny had thought when Blair had declared Chuck as her escort before. But maybe she'd just read too much into it, since she knew about them already…

God, she didn't know. She just knew that if Blair ever found out she had prompted Nate to start throwing punches...she'd never be forgiven. To Blair, Cotillion was sacred. Plus Nate had ruined her dress.

Jenny knew she owed much more to Blair than just repairing a detached train.

Shoulders slumped, Jenny nodded. She was already way late for her mom's art show. If she was going to be in deep shit, she might as well go in all the way. Plus Blair was commanding her. And no one said no to a command from a pissed of Queen B.

"I have my sewing stuff right here," she said, grabbing her bag. She'd brought it in case anyone had dress malfunctions before the ball started. Though she hadn't imagined anything of this magnitude happening—but leave it to the UES to always outdo her expectations.

"Let's go downstairs where it's quieter," Serena said, urging Blair away from the dance floor. Apparently the fight was still going on in full-swing.

"Blair!" Iz and Kati clacked toward the group in their heels. "Are you okay? We were in the bathroom but we just saw on Gossip Gi—"

"I don't really care, Iz!" Blair shrieked. She shook her train again and the bow on her shoulder dangled tragically. "If you hadn't noticed, I'm half naked because my dress is falling apart!"

"Oh my God, did they hit you?" Kati squealed.

"Did Nate really sucker-punch Chuck in the face?" Iz asked excitedly. "Are they really fighting over you? That is so romantic!" she squealed.

"You mean barbaric," Kati interjected.

"I didn't even know you liked Chuck!"

"They'll be talking about this forever!" Kati said excitedly. "The throw down at Cotillion!"

"So who are you going to choose?"

"Duh, Iz. Who do you think she's going to ch—"

"I do not have time for this!" Blair declared, storming past them and grabbing Jenny's hand. Her face was flushed, but it wasn't clear if the cause was anger or embarrassment.

With Jenny in tow, Blair marched down the hall heading for the stairs, but Serena was detained by Iz and Kati, who pulled her aside after Blair had passed.

"Oh em gee, S," Iz said. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Did Blair really sleep with Chuck?" Kati asked, her eyes fixed on the crowd on the dance floor. "Is that why he's escorting her to Cotillion? Because they're having an affair?"

Serena frowned and blew out a breath. "Well, it looks like Nate didn't take the news of them getting together too well."

"So they are together?" Iz asked, pulling out her phone.

"Who ever would have thought?" Kati said, pulling out hers.

"Yeah," Serena said, staring at the mob behind them.

"What'd you do? Did you just get what you wanted, like you did from all those other girls?" Nate spat, slamming Chuck against the floor. "You're a real asshole, you know that Chuck?! 'Hit it and quit it' that's your motto, right?!" Nate brought his fist back, ready to give his so-called best friend another punch in the face but a hand caught his arm and pulled him up off the floor. He struggled to lunge back into the fight but his rage wasn't a match for the arms that held him. Unfortunately. Two other guys grabbed Chuck and lifted him.

"Now, that's enough—"

"Yes, Nathaniel!" Chuck snarled sarcastically, straining against his own holders. "I took what Blair kept throwing at you and you kept throwing back."

"Oh, so somehow you screwing Blair for sport is my fault?" Nate shouted.

"It wasn't for sport," Chuck said firmly through gritted teeth. "She needed someone and I was there."

"Really, now gentlemen, let's be reasonable—"

"Oh, so you care about her?" Nate sneered, cutting off the Mistress of Ceremonies, who'd gotten in the midst of the fray. She gave him an affronted look but the two boys ignored her.

"You guys broke up," Chuck insisted hotly, jerking his arm away from one of the guys holding him. It wasn't like he and Blair had cheated. Not technically.

"So you decided to fuck her because she was finally free!? In your goddamn limo!? How long was it until you decided to pounce? A week? An hour? The one girl who was off limits?"

"It wasn't like that—it's not—"

"Please, you expect me to believe that!?" Nate cried. "You, who's never slept with the same girl twice—but maybe for Blair you made the exception. The little virgin you've secretly wanted since middle school."

Chuck's stomach turned over. It was pretty much true: He had always wanted her. Maybe the temptation of the forbidden, the beautiful—the innocent to his experience, the bitch to his asshole, the Queen to his King—had been part of it at first…but it was so much more now. His feelings were so much more. Now that he finally had her, there was no way he was giving her up without a fight. Even if the entire UES was witness to the revelation of his and Blair's secret relationship and Nate looked ready to kill him.

"Look, I am sorry," he said tightly. "Alright, I know how long you and I have been best friends, okay?"

"No, it's not okay, Chuck," Nate shot back. He strained against his holders, an ugly snarl on his handsome face. "You've been banging my girlfriend behind my back all over the entire fucking city, from what I've heard," he ground out, to the flashes of dozens of cameras. "What, couldn't keep it in your pants? The second we take a break you swoop in—?!"

"You're not taking a break," Chuck said hoarsely.

"What the fuck do you know about it!?" Nate shouted. "You've been pushing me to let her go but we'd have gone to Cotillion together if it weren't for you! From now on you stay the hell away from her!"

Chuck felt the anger in him rise. God, Nate was so stupid sometimes. Sure, Nate was pissed that they hadn't told him—but they'd tried! He was the one who'd been late to Cotillion. And Blair had made it fucking clear that she wasn't interested in Nate anymore.

Chuck set his jaw, meeting his best friend's eyes with an icy glare. "She's not your girlfriend anymore, Nathaniel."

"What and she's yours?"

There was a pause. The crowd around them held its breath. Even the Mistress of Ceremonies and the surrounding parents had given up trying to stop the boys, entranced by the scene enfolding in front of them.

Chuck thought about how Blair had come to the Palace that morning to apologize and how she'd asked him to be her boyfriend. He felt the butterflies rise at the memory of her face. Cotillion was their first outing as an official couple. They were public now—he wasn't her dirty little secret. They were Chuck and Blair, Blair and Chuck. Boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Yes, actually," he said.

The crowd buzzed.

So this might not have been the way he and Blair had imagined everyone finding out…but Nate had asked. And Chuck wasn't going to deny it. He had nothing to be ashamed about. What he and Blair had… What he felt about Blair, was beautiful.

Nate tried to twist out of his captors' hold so he could get to Chuck. "You son of bitch, is that supposed to be a joke!? What the hell is wrong with you Chuck?"

He took offense at Nate's disbelief. "Nothing, because I am completely serious!" he shot back.

"What?" Nate sputtered.

"Look, I know she's too good for me," Chuck said bitterly. "The whole world is screaming it—"

"Yeah, because it's true!" Nate cried. Chuck felt as though Nate had sucker punched him again.

"I don't care!" he snapped. "I'm sick of it! Why do I have to be the Dark Prince and you get to be the White Knight!? Even though everyone else seems to have forgotten, Blair sure still remembers that you slept with Serena—"

The crowd roared.

"That happened a long time ago!" Nate cried. "I don't—"

"—so why does everybody blame me for everything?" Chuck continued. "Did you ever think that maybe Blair wants me, too? Did you ever think that the reason she's been so happy lately is because of me!? We've been together since her birthday—"

"We only broke up the day before that!" Nate bellowed.

"Well you didn't seem to have felt it that badly if you skipped her party to take pictures with some blonde skank!" Chuck snarled. The memory of Blair's tears on receiving that Gossip Girl blast at her birthday party still pained him.

"She was just a friend! It was nothing," Nate insisted, his adorable Natefused frown furrowing his handsome brow. He was obviously annoyed that he couldn't quite play the victim any longer. "My dad just got arrested—I wasn't thinking straight. Besides, what kind of friend are you that you steal my girlfriend the second my back is turned!?"

"Your back was turned a long time before that," Chuck said.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Face it, Nathaniel. It's over. Blair doesn't want you anymore."

"How can you say that!? We've barely broken up—We were going to go to Cotillion together—She's been my girlfriend for forever! We were in love!"

"Well so am I!"

Chuck panted as his words hung in the air. A vacuum seemed to have sucked all the sound out of the room, even the clicks of the camera phones.

Nate gaped at him.

Hands trembling, Blair tried not to think about what was going on upstairs as Jenny knelt at her feet, sewing her dress back together. She fiddled with her necklace, the one Chuck had gotten her for her birthday. The day they'd made love for the second time.

Chuck. Oh, God. Nate had attacked him. How had he found out? And now the whole school—the whole UES—the whole world—knew.

It wasn't bad that they knew, per say, more like the way it had come out. God, couldn't Nate have pulled her and Chuck aside quietly and asked them what was going on? Hadn't she left him enough messages that afternoon, telling him she needed to talk to him about something important? There was no need to throw punches, claim injustice, and rip her dress. She wanted to slap Nate. This was so not how she'd wanted to tell him, to tell everyone… Iz and Kati had practically been bubbling with glee at the fight and the gossip…Serena had abandoned her…Blair had heard what the crowd had been saying…

Now everyone thought she was a whore, just another in Chuck's endless line of girls—exactly what she didn't want to be—exactly what she wasn't. She was his girlfriend. They were going out; they were exclusive. He wanted her; he liked her. It was different with them. She could feel it…

Blair could just imagine what Nate was claiming, what Chuck was shouting back. He could be cruel... Their fight on Friday had hit that fact home to her rather harshly. He knew just where to strike, exactly what would hurt most, even if he hadn't meant a lot of it… God, if what he was saying now was just as bad…

She smoothed her hair, trying to calm down. It would be okay. Just because her boyfriend and her ex had gotten into a public brawl didn't mean the world was ending. They'd get through it. If Nate never spoke to them again… Well, at this point she could really care less. It was all his fault because they'd meant to tell him before Cotillion started. He was the one who'd been late.

And somehow found out about them by himself. God, how had that happened? Had he just put two and two together and gotten it? Had he seen them and—oh God, she'd told him just this morning that her date was the guy she'd been seeing. When he'd seen Chuck he must have assumed…and been right…but then why wait for the confrontation? If he was so angry—as that sucker-punch attested—why had he waited till after the dancing? Why not just run up the stairs after they'd been presented, jostling their classmates out the way, and started the fight on the landing under the Mistress of Ceremonies' nose, in front of everybody? It would have been just as—if not more—effective. Blair gritted her teeth. Not that many had missed the actual fight. They'd been in the middle of the dance floor and surrounded by onlookers in seconds. She'd probably ripped her dress even more when Serena had dragged her through the crowd away from the boys.

Blair tapped her foot, hearing Jenny rustling beside her, pinning her dress back into place.

God, her mother was going to kill her. Blair supposed it was a good thing Eleanor was in Paris because if she'd been present… Blair tried not to think about what her mother would say when she heard about the boys throwing punches at her daughter's debutante ball—over her daughter. Eleanor had probably expected something like this, or she'd probably say as much once she came home. She'd say 'I-told-you-so' to Blair, forbid her from seeing Chuck, and bemoan the state of her dress.

Not that it was Chuck's fault. It was Nate's—the asshole. He'd been the one who'd stalked up to them, grabbed Chuck's shoulder, and thrown his fist.

Hadn't Blair told Chuck once that Nate would never cause a scene? What had she even been thinking? Nate was always the one getting riled up, he was so far from perfect—this night was so far from perfect—

Oh God, oh God, was that New York Times reporter still here? Had he left after the presentation? Please let him have left after the presentation. If he was still here… There was no way he could miss the fight… A Night Out With? A Fight Out With two best friends over the same girl. On the front page of the section. Holy shit.

Blair let out a strained laugh at the thought, trying not to get hysterical.

It'll be okay, she told herself. Don't think about it. Don't think about them, just focus on your dress. God, she hoped Jenny would be able to do it all—and not do a half-ass job of it either. Because then the dress would be ruined even more. And her mother would explode.

Blair heard a cell phone go off.

It was probably Gossip Girl, she thought distractedly. Bitch. She was most likely gloating over it all: the fall of the Queen, the affair, two best friends lying and fighting and doing it all at Cotillion. Even if the New York Times reporter had left, that didn't mean the entire UES wouldn't hear about the horror that was Cotillion via Gossip Girl—or at least all the high schoolers would hear about it.

Blair heard Jenny gasp. The rustling had stopped.

"Don't check Gossip Girl!" she screeched, snatching the phone from Jenny's hands and lobbing it across the room. "Fix my dress!"

Jenny's big blue eyes bugged out at her. "But Blair—"

"No talking!" Blair cried hysterically. "Just sew before my dress completely falls off—I wouldn't be surprised if it did, the way this night has turned out—"

"Blair—I think—"

"Do you want to be off the hook or not?!" Blair shrieked. "I told you you'll be off probation if you fix my dress—so fix it!"

"But Blair—the fight—you should really—"

"I don't care what Gossip Bitch is writing about me!" she exclaimed angrily. Blair took a deep breath, trying to control herself. She leaned down, face to face with Jenny. "And you shouldn't either." The younger girl was frozen, her hair falling down from its pins, her upper lip sweaty. Blair gave her an icy glare. "So fix my fucking dress or get the fuck out of my face," she said coldly. She straightened. "Because I don't need a freshman telling me what to do."

Jenny meekly ducked down into her sewing kit and started working on the train again.

Blair raised her chin. She was still Queen, no matter what Gossip Girl said. Now was not the time for freshmen to think they could order her around—especially one so close to the edge of her good graces.

She wouldn't let this stupid, embarrassing, horrible night get in her way. She'd show Gossip Girl. She's show them all. She wasn't a plaything. She'd chosen Chuck Bass and goddamnit she wouldn't let anyone laugh at her for being delusional. They didn't know him like she did. They didn't…

She swallowed, holding back the tears. They didn't know. But she sure as fucking hell hoped she did. Because if she was wrong…she honestly didn't know what she would do.

tbc