Chapter 10

Hey Upper East Siders, there's nothing Gossip Girl loves more than a surprise, and we hear Blair Waldorf's got a two for one special. Her mom Eleanor, just returned from Paris, and Serena Van Der Woodsen, brunch buddies.

Blair jerked herself awake, awakening herself from a nightmare. She sat up in bed as she removed her sleep mask from her head and tossed it aside. The dream was awful. It started out so well and then it just went to a very dark place. She was climbing out of a cab on Fifth Avenue with Moon River playing in the background, she was wearing Audrey's opening outfit from her favorite movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's.

When she stepped out of the cab she found that she was outside of Bendels. She walked to one of the display windows and inside she saw Serena sitting at a table and being catered to by Blair's minions, Kati and Iz. In the dream, Blair was shocked as they served Serena as if she were Queen and they were laughing as if they were having the time of their lives.

Blair had tried to not let it get to her as she remembered that she went to the door to go inside only to be stopped by the doorman. His words ringing in her ears, "Sorry, but you're not on the list."

She remembered being outraged and replied, "Of course I am. This is my dream!" and the doorman took on the voice of her mother's with a "Not anymore". It was the sound of her mother's voice that forced Blair out of the dream to begin with. But it was the sound of her mother's laughter downstairs that caused Blair to frown in confusion.

Blair quickly climbed out of bed and grabbed her matching, silk robe, putting it on and tying the rope around her slim waist as she left her bedroom and went down the stairs. Thankful that because of Ivy Week pressures, the school gave the students a three day weekend, she didn't have anywhere promising to be as far as she could remember. She paused at the sight before her on the first platform, still feeling confused and bewildered at what was going on.

There was her mother and Serena, laughing together as if they were best friends as they sat in the sitting room eating brunch. They were surrounded by lines and lines of clothing that were being unpacked by the help. As Blair took in the scene, she felt the familiar feelings of insecurities whirl in the pit of her stomach. Her mother had never just sat and laughed with her like she did with Serena. She never made her feel anything other than inadequate.

She quickly shook off the feelings as she walked the rest of the way down the stairs and made her presence known. Serena, of course, was the first to notice her and with a bright smile and a slightly filled mouth she exclaimed, "Hey! You're up!"

Blair gave her a confused smile as she made her way passed the clothing and took a seat beside Serena on the couch as she asked, "Did we have plans?"

Eleanor was quick to correct Blair in her etiquette with, "Darling it's impolite to interrupt," and a blow of a kiss before continuing on, "I was just telling Serena that Bendels is interested in carrying my line."

Blair gasped and gave a genuine smile of excitement, ignoring the reprimand that she received earlier, as she replied, "Really? Oh! That's fantastic! Why didn't you say something?" Blair reached in front of her towards the spread of food and picked up a piece of croissant and began to butter it, still giving her mother her full attention.

"I came back from Paris early to put together my look book and if they like what they see, it could be the beginning of an entire lifestyle collection," Eleanor explained excitedly, giving the croissant in Blair's hand a pointed look halfway through her explanation, but continued on happily.

"Cause more people should be like you mother," Blair replied with a smile, showing that she meant her comment as a compliment, as she lifted the buttered piece of bread up to her mouth.

"Before you tuck into that," Eleanor interrupted before Blair could take a bite, "you might find that a low fat yogurt more appealing."

Blair put the bread down and felt that feeling of inadequacy return, "There it is! How I've missed you old friend." She thought sarcastically to herself in her head as she pressed her lips together and looked to Serena for some kind of support.

Knowing about Blair's personal struggle in regards to her weight, Serena got the message loud and clear and decided to give them a moment alone as she tried to come up with something to change the subject.

Blair wrapped her hand around her wrist as she finally answered her mother with a practiced smile, "I lost two pounds while you were away."

"And you look marvelous," Eleanor encouraged, half paying attention as she watched Serena go through the clothing on the racks in the lobby area.

Blair decided to go for the fruit instead of the yogurt when she heard Serena speak behind her, "Wow, these are beautiful Ms. Waldorf."

Eleanor smiled as she stood up, "Well they would be, if they are not all squished from traveling." She continued on with the conversation with Serena, passing in front of Blair with an offhanded, "Darling, please?" As if Blair was the one in the way.

Blair leaned back to give her mother space to walk by unconstructed before quickly going back to the blackberry that she was attempting to stab with a fork as she half listened to her mother and Serena talk about her mother's favorite subject, her line.

"Serena you have to come back later when everything is unpacked. I would love to hear your thoughts; you do have such great personal style." Eleanor complimented.

Blair glanced over at them with a look of vulnerability at how easily her mother forgot about her even when she was in the same room as her. Blair was quick to mask this as she turned away and bit into the fruit. She should be used to this by now. According to everyone on the Upper East Side, Blair Waldorf was the perfect daughter and every mother dreamed of having a daughter that was even close to being as perfect as her in style, poise, manners, and etiquette, every mother but her own.

"Thank you, but I don't think we'll be able to. Blair and I have plans today." Serena explained to Blair's mother.

The sound of her name and the sentence that came out of Serena's mouth caused her to whip her head around with her mouth full of fruit in shock, "We do?"

xoxo

Chuck continued on with his search of one of his most prized possessions, his watch. He had Nathaniel on the other side of his suite looking for it too. He could not have lost that watch. It was one of the few material things that had actual sentimental value to him, and he would find it if it was the last thing he did. Just when he was about to lose hope, he found it tucked away. He smiles as he lifts it up victoriously, "Found it! PJ!"

"Can't you just call it a watch?" Nate asks as he stands up straight and passes by Chuck on his way to a side table where another one of Chuck's prized possessions was displayed.

"If it costs more than ten grand, it deserves a name," Chuck responded as he put the watch away. It wasn't the fact that the watch was so expensive that Chuck treasured it so though. It was because it was one of the rare gifts that he received from his father. When his father went away to Tokyo, Japan for a business deal, the business man there gave Bart a pair of custom-made matching watches, sort of like a father/son gift. When Bart gave it to Chuck upon his return, they had one of those rare moments of bonding that, like this watch, Chuck treasured it for the rarity it was.

Nate walked over to Chuck holding out the small display case of a signed baseball asking, "How about this?"

Chuck turned and smiled when he saw the ball and takes it, "Definitely that. Babe Ruth's call shot. The most famous homer he had ever hit." It was another one of those rare gifts from his father from when he was a boy. The fact that Bart took the time to actually get something with Chuck in mind other than a bundle of cash was a huge milestone.

Chuck put the ball away with the watch and locked it with a key as he said, "Better safe than sorry." He didn't want anything of importance to be broken and/or stolen this weekend. It was the tradition that Chuck had been waiting for since he came to high school. It was the most coveted of occasions, The Lost Weekend.

It got its start a couple of years ago and it was reserved for the Junior class to let off some steam during the most stressful of the years in high school. The year where, if you plan to go to college, meant the most to your academic career. The pressure was astounding and to avoid getting into too much trouble, the lost weekend was founded to allow the Junior boys the opportunity to "let their hair down" as the saying goes and have the fun reserved for those of the elite. A weekend filled with drinks, drugs, debauchery, and anything else they wished. And this year was Chuck and Nate's year, and Chuck was the one hosting it, guaranteeing that it was going to be an epic weekend.

Chuck hid the key under a nearby candlestick holder and turned towards Nate, who was sitting on the back of the couch behind him, as he heard a knock on his door. Chuck smirked as he looked to the door and back to Nate with a simple, "Here we go."

It didn't take long for the suite to be filled with members of their junior class and everyone was having fun and pre-gaming before the events of the night and the rest of the weekend. Chuck took a glass of scotch from a wait staffer, who was acting as bartender for the day, and stood up on top of the wooden coffee table to make an announcement, "We've lived through Ivy Week, and hopefully gained entrance to the college of your choice! Now, let's ruin those chances," he smirked at the room as everyone looked to him in excitement, "Let me remind you of the rules. As of this moment there is no outside world that I do not show you. Eat what I provide, practice what I preach. Until I say so, the only girls you talk to are the ones that I pay for."

Everyone chuckled for a moment as they looked around at the beautiful women that surrounded them before Chuck wrapped up his speech, "Let the lost weekend commence!"

With those words he hopped off of the coffee table and made the rounds, taking in the sights of the women thinking to himself, "This is definitely going to be a weekend to remember."

If only he knew how right he was. Not too long later, Chuck's suite door opened up to someone not a member of their junior class. A guy dressed as if he were not one of the elite that filtered through the room. Chuck saw the guy and felt his smile disappear as he said to Nate, "Who brought the sasquatch?"

Nate put down his drink as he recognized the new comer, "Isn't that Carter Baizen? I haven't seen him since he was a senior and we were in the eighth grade!" Nate chuckled at the memory as they both watched Cater move around the room, "He looks intense."

Chuck glanced over at Nate as he took in this new development, and just gave Nate a look that asked if he were serious, "Are you high? He looks like Matthew McConaughey between movies." Obviously not impressed with this new Carter at all he continued, "The guy's a loser; anyone who trades their trust fund for a fanny pack flies in the face of all that is holy to Chuck Bass."

Nate laughs as they share a look before they see Carter approach them, "Nate Archibald, is that you?"

Nate, always friendly to a fault, goes over with a smile and open arms, "Baizen, my man! I heard you went rogue!"

"I lived to tell about it," Carter said with a smile.

Chuck rolled his eyes at that remark and took a sip from his glass as he watched them greet each other as if they were long lost friends. "Great, now I have to watch Nate this weekend and make sure the traitor doesn't give him any stupid ideas or get him into more trouble than was appropriate for a lost weekend," he thought silently to himself as he just stood off on the sidelines.

xoxo

Serena and Blair laughed as they walked down the street in Soho, laden down with their bags from their shopping excursion. Blair sighed in contentment, feeling as if everything was back to how it used to be when everything was good, and she could honestly say that her fears from her dream this morning were gone. "This time it's going to be different. Serena and I are in a much better place this time around," she thought to herself as they walked together and caught up on their time apart and reminiscing on similar times of the past.

As they continued to walk down the sidewalk, Blair glanced over to their left and saw two business men leering at Serena and she just couldn't help commenting as she looked at Serena, not breaking her stride, "Oh god. I forgot what it was like to be with you."

Serena simply laughed before she responded trying to placate Blair, "They were looking at both of us."

Blair frowned at the obvious lie, "Don't insult me, it's been like this all morning; starting with your lovely visit with my mother. She didn't even call me to tell me she was coming home."

Serena quickly tried to give a reason for Eleanor's neglect of her daughter, "She was busy! She was rushing to get home and everything because she wanted to see you."

At Serena's words, Blair just shook her head at the ridiculousness spewing from her friend's mouth and just laughed sarcastically as she rebuffed, "She didn't even wake me up!"

Serena continued to try to sway Blair, "Well you know how Eleanor feels about beauty rest."

Blair looked at Serena head on as she gave the start of her real argument, "She likes you more than me."

"She does not!" Serena denied as Blair continued on walking, "You're her daughter, she doesn't like anyone more than you." The pair stopped outside of a café as Serena tried to explain, "She just…I don't know, just doesn't know how to show it sometimes-"

Blair mentally rolled her eyes at how naïve Serena was being about the subject when it was so obvious that Blair's words were true. Feeling bored with the subject she quickly interrupted Serena, "Okay. I'm going inside," She motions to the café they stood in front of before heading inside to look around, "Wait for me, I'll be right back."

Blair walked into the café and immediately followed the signs to the bathroom. She wrinkled her nose at some of the people in there already, "Ever heard of a shower people?!" she thought silently to herself as she went into a stall. As she did her business, the conversation that she just had with Serena still swirling in her mind.

Maybe Serena was right about Eleanor not liking Serena more than her, but she had serious doubts on the subject. Eleanor always compared Blair to her taller, blonde counterpart since the two had first met. Serena had always had this effortless charm and beauty that girls, like Blair, had to work for hours to even get to a percentage of that perfection. After washing her hands she made a quick exit, pausing briefly to check that she got everything because there was no way that she was ever coming back in here.

She walked outside the building, bags in hand, and marched up to Serena with a cry of outrage, not even caring that she was interrupting Serena with her talk with that Brooklyn nobody, "That was disgusting! The DOH should shut them down!"

"The bathroom?" Serena asked as she looked to Blair.

"No, the people. It's called No lolita, not No Showers!" Blair took a deep breath as she decided to finally acknowledge the Brooklynite, "What are you doing here?"

She paused as she took a whiff of the air and interrupted him before he could even speak, "Do I smell pork?" feeling her disgust grow as she asked the next question, "And cheese?"

Not even wanting to linger around that smell, Blair quickly made her excuses to Serena, not caring that she was being rude to someone she considered beneath her, "Okay when you are done with your charity work, why don't you come find me?" she said head as she nodded to Dan as if he couldn't hear or understand her, she continued on, "I'll be at Tory Birch looking at…paunchos?" She said with a shake of her head as if the thought was as ridiculous as Serena needing to talk to Dan before taking her leave of the situation to go down the street.

xoxo

"So I don't understand, the last time I saw your sister she said that your family had locked you out and you've fallen off of the face of the earth," Nate explained as he, Carter, and Chuck sat together at the bar in Chuck's suite.

"I didn't. I just fell of the face of theirs," Carter responded easily.

Chuck wasn't really interested in what happened to former reigning king of the Lost Weekend since he gave up his crown just to run around like a peasant in Europe, but obviously Nate was just eating it up. Chuck remembered when he and Nate were talking about Nate's fear of being doomed to live the life that their parents had mapped out for them and feared that Carter maybe the vision of what the future held for those of the Upper East Side children who tried to break the ties that bound them to their families. Frankly, Chuck did not see the appeal in it. He rolled his eyes as he took a sip from his scotch as continued listening Carter blather on.

"Once you turn away from money, you see it doesn't buy you freedom; it just pays for your prison. They say I disappeared, but all I did was break out!" Carter pounded once on the bar table to emphasize his point.

"Where'd you go?" Nate asked, riveted and obviously full of admiration for the guy that went and did whatever it was that he wanted and he survived.

"Where didn't I go? I did the cleanup in post Katrina, spent a year rebuilding around Machu Picchu, which let me tell you," Carter laughed as he continued on, "It has changed my life! I bought an HD camera and started filming it for a documentary."

By this point Chuck just had enough and had to say something before Carter got too caught up going down his memory lane of being poor and the joys he found, "You're the guy that gave us our first joint, snuck into our first club, and you're going to tell me the life of a youtube filmmaker is better than this?"

Carter just nodded as he looked down at the bar as Chuck continued, "You invented the Lost Weekend."

Nate, quick to defend his new hero, cut in, "Hey. Who cares about a party when you can travel the world?"

Chuck just sighed and rolled his eyes as Carter agreed, "Exactly! In the real world, the only thing that matters is who you are, not what you own."

"As much as I love the speech about not needing material things from a guy who has that much product in his hair," Chuck mocked as he sat back in his seat, obviously done with the conversation, "This party is about excess, not expedition. Stop talking. Start partying." He finishes just as two call girls arrive on either side of him, obviously wanting attention of the great Chuck Bass.

He wrapped his arms around both of the girls' waist and jokes, "Now here's something that doesn't require much material! As a matter of fact, they're about to come off." He looks to Nate as he leans his head onto one of the girls' breasts and asks, "Who's with me?"

Carter and Nate looked at each other before Nate speaks, "I think we're just going to hang out here for a bit."

Chuck frowns, realizing that he has lost naïve little Nate to the dark side for the night and decides to let him go on drinking the kool-aid that Carter was providing, he responds as if he wasn't hurt by Nate's decision, "Fine. I hate to break up a matched set anyway."

Chuck stands up from his seat and leads the girls away with a smirk as he thought silently to himself, "Something doesn't smell right with Carter, and Nate's just going to waste his weekend until he finally figures it out for himself. So let him, more fun for me."

xoxo

By the time Serena and Blair returned to Blair's penthouse, it was dark. They figured that they would drop off their stuff and go out to dinner later on at Butter. Unfortunately before they could make their escape, Eleanor asked Serena, and by association Blair, to stay and look at her new line that her and her people were prepping for the photo shoot this weekend to make the new look book for Eleanor's presentation to Bendels.

Blair sighed, but put on a happy face as Serena agreed on their behalf and the girls immediately started flipping through the clothing racks, pulling out items here and there to show each other what they personally liked; all the while listening in as Eleanor and her assistants discussed potential models to feature as the face of the Waldorf brand.

Blair smiled as Serena lifted up a dress and pressed it against Blair to see how it looks, the pair shared a laugh as they impersonated the very models that Eleanor and her assistants were flipping through and shooting down as not good enough. Other than the brief run in with the Brooklynite, Blair declared that today was a great start to the new and improved friendship between her and Serena. They laughed and shopped and everything was as it was before Serena left, only better.

"You should be looking for a new face, someone who looks good in your clothes. Someone in this book, like they told you," Blair vaguely heard the stylist, she thought the girl's name was Melissa or something, working with her mother go on trying to sell Eleanor something that she clearly was not buying.

As Blair continued to flip through more of the clothing racks she heard her mother respond, "I hate the American apparel line effect!"

Melissa tried to explain, "These girls are what you need, Eleanor. They're now and hip."

"If this person is supposed to represent Waldorf Designs, than find me someone…worthy of the clothes," Eleanor tried to explain her own vision to the woman. Obviously the stylist agreed because they continued on with their brainstorming.

Blair glanced over at Serena who was paying a lot more obvious attention to the conversation then Blair was. "Could Serena be any more obvious? If you're going to eavesdrop give the subject the illusion that they have some privacy; otherwise they won't speak nearly as freely!" Blair mentally chastised Serena silently as she pulled out a periwinkle colored dress just as Serena pulled out a similar dress in tangerine, knowing that if she spoke out loud she, herself, would be caught.

"Someone like me!" Eleanor continued on speaking aloud, "Someone like…" It was at that moment Blair and Serena posed at each other together and ended up laughing at their foolishness as Eleanor finished her thought, "My daughter."

Blair looked over at her mother with a smirk and a light rolling of her eyes as if to say that the idea was ridiculous before putting the dress back as the stylist responded, "Why not her?" At Melissa's question, she definitely achieved gaining Serena's attention while Blair just wasn't interested as she lightly tapped Serena with a hanger that held a paisley dress playfully.

Melissa and Eleanor continued on with the conversation as they stood watching the girls, "You want your line to represent a Waldorf lifestyle. Who better to represent you than one of your own family?"

"She was what the first dress was for…" Eleanor said, not taking her eyes off of Blair.

The second that Eleanor was even considering the idea, Serena jumped on the bandwagon. She snatched Blair over to her as she turned her towards Eleanor with an exclamation, "She'd love to!"

Blair frowned in confusion, feeling a bit off kilter at being turned around so quickly, as she blurted out, "I would?"

Melissa looked to Eleanor for her final say, "Eleanor?"

Blair looked at her mother as she in turn looked at Blair with a look that said, "Why didn't I think of this before?" before responding, "Yes."

Serena squealed in delight right into Blair's ear, causing her to close her eyes and turn her head away, but Blair honestly began to feel elation at what just happened. She actually received her mother's approval; not only was she considered beautiful, but she was also her mother's ideal candidate to represent her in her campaign for Bendels!

"It's perfect. Eleanor Waldorf, meet the new face of Waldorf for Bendels," Melissa said with a flourish and a nod to Blair.

Blair could not believe it and found herself actually getting excited with Serena, "Maybe Serena was right after all. Mother could have gone with anyone else, but she chose me to be the face of her line," she thought silently as Serena started to spin her around causing Blair to laugh.

Is that a smile we see on B's lips? The spotlight is on her for once and S actually helped her get it. I guess miracles really CAN happen.

xoxo

The next day in the early afternoon, Blair, Serena, Kati and Iz were found in Blair's bedroom. They were all lying on top of Blair's bed as they flipped through magazines and excitedly talked about Blair's photo shoot that was happening the next day. Blair smiled as Kati and Iz looked at her envy and enjoyed being the center of attention when Serena was around. It was a nice change of pace from the formative years and it built up Blair's hope that this time was going to be different and that she and Serena could shine together.

Iz was standing in front of the mirror as she tied a scarf around her shoulders as Serena went on about how big of a deal this was, "It's going to be so hot. The clothes are gorgeous!"

While Blair tried to play it down, "They're alright."

Serena exclaimed with a smile as she flipped the page in the magazine in her hand, "Shut up! They are amazing!"

Blair let a small smile as she defended her decision, "I'm just doing my mom a favor," Unable to help herself she beamed at Kati beside her as she continued, "The hair and make-up test is tonight."

The girls squealed in genuine excitement for Blair's big day and how glamorous it all sounded. Iz, who was still standing in front of the mirror, took off the scarf and posed as she said, "I think this is my best pose."

"That's because you can't see what you look like," Kati teased, "You're just a hand model and that's it." Kati stood up as she continued on, standing beside Iz in the mirror and posed, "The right way is this."

Getting into the fun, Blair stands up and follows after Kati, talking as if to correct them both as she stood in between them, "Uh no, this is how you do it. No, no, no. First you have to curve your spine forward, elongate-"

Serena interrupted as she hopped off the bed too and stood beside Blair with a laugh, "No, you guys are doing it all wrong! You're missing the key!" she laughed with them as she took her position.

"Show us," Blair said as she stifled a laugh at Serena's mock outrage.

"Look look, you gotta get a hand on the hip, and pop!" she showed them the pop as she took on a Tyra Banks impression with a laugh, "That's how you gotta do it!"

The girls laugh as they all mimic Serena and do the pop having so much fun that only Serena heard the sound of her phone ringing. Blair looked over at Serena as she picked up the phone to answer with a hello and who was it. Blair was quick to take the phone away, feeling very playful as she kept the phone away from Serena as she answered for her, "Who dare to interrupt the Van Der Woodsen as she teaches!"

They all laughed as Serena yelled at Blair to give her back her phone, obviously not all that upset at the teasing Blair just worked harder to keep the phone away from her when she heard the voice of that Brooklynite from yesterday answer, "Dan, Humphrey?"

As Serena asked who was it, Blair smiled as she continued on talking into the phone, "I'm sorry but the number that you have dialed is no longer in service." She smiled over at Serena as she finished and put her hand over the mic of the phone as she said seriously, "I'm doing you a favor."

The pair heard the voice on the phone speak, "Look I can hear you, can I just please talk to Serena?"

Blair looked at how excited and smiling that Serena was about the caller and rolled her eyes as she spoke into the phone, "Apparently you can Cabbage Patch."

Serena just smiled and took the phone away as Blair handed it to her, "Come on, let me have it!" Blair shook her head, not interested in eavesdropping on that conversation as she went back to her friends who were back on the bed going through magazines as the girls were fighting over the phone.

She vaguely heard Serena make a date for the night and just rolled her eyes in disbelief that Serena was actually going to date someone so obviously beneath her. "But who am I to deny her happiness; she's already helped me have some of my own," she thought silently as the girls and her started discussing what she was going to wear tonight after Serena returned from her phone call. Everything was perfect and almost felt unreal.

xoxo

Arthur pulled up the limo at the basketball court around 1pm and the bulk of the junior boys of Chuck's class stepped out to meet the rest for the afternoon game. Nate and Chuck were the last ones out; even though Nate ditched him last night to hang out with the Carter, Chuck was willing to let it go since Nate still wanted to take part in the festivities of the weekend.

Unfortunately, Chuck had to deal with a crasher as Carter insisted on joining too. Chuck put on his dark sunglasses and stretched as he walked with Nate, asking, "What is Carter still doing here?"

"I invited him," Nate said as if it shouldn't be a problem.

Chuck gave Nate a frown, not believing that for a minute, "Or he invited himself, that's his style," Nate sighed as Chuck continued on, not caring that Carter could overhear him, "Begging us to break free of our prisons, while stuffing his face with free food and draining our booze. He's a deadbeat and a hypocrite."

"And a good ballplayer if I remember, right? You sure you just don't want to lose to him, Chuck?" Nate tried to put Chuck's attitude towards Carter being there about petty jealousies instead of something deeper.

Chuck looked at Nate as if he were stupid to even go in that direction, "He really is that naïve, or maybe he's spent too much time with Blair that he's taken on her "pretend" game. Just pretend that everything's fine and it is." Chuck thought silently to himself.

It was then that Carter came up to them carrying a ball in his hand, "Maybe if your daddy bought you a basketball team instead of a hotel," Carter nudged him roughly, obviously overhearing most of the conversation as he continues, "You'd have some skill."

Chuck, by this point, was getting seriously irritated by this entire situation. He shouldn't be feeling irritated this weekend, he should be feeling nothing but enjoyment, "Look this is a Lost Weekend for JUNIORS, not senior citizens, so why don't you go jump into a volcano." Chuck waves his hand at Carter as if to say run along.

"We should settle it on the court," Carter offered smugly.

"Why don't we just settle it here?" Chuck stepped up to him, just over this entire thing.

Before he could get too close, however, Nate pushed him back trying to calm Chuck down, "Hey! Chill out."

Chuck looked Nate square in the eye, not backing down, "No. This is my game. I pick the players."

Carter interrupted the conversation, "I get it. I'll go," as he backed away like he wasn't about to cause a scene not 30 seconds ago.

Nate looked at Carter in disbelief and then looked to Chuck silently asking him to do something, to which Chuck just shrugged. He didn't want him there in the first place and he made that very clear. Unfortunately, Nate did as he called out to Carter and goes over to him, "Hey man!"

Chuck rolled his eyes as the two started whispering to each other, just glad that Carter was finally leaving them alone. The entire situation reminded him too much of the conversations he would have with Blair in the past involving some unfortunate soul coming from out of nowhere and trying to take her beloved throne.

Fortunately Carter was only temporary so he didn't feel that he had too much to worry about, but Chuck never did have much patience when he became irritated. Nate turned towards him after he was done talking to Carter, "You didn't have to do that man!" he tried to scold him.

Chuck sighed and answered right back with the truth, "No one wanted him here. He was the older brother trying to bring everyone down."

Nate didn't have anything to say to that except to thrust the ball at Chuck with, "Let's play some ball."

Chuck caught it, almost smashing his Armani shades that were in his hand by this point as he took in Nate's little tantrum. If it wasn't the Lost Weekend he would have called Blair to handle him, but it was so he was stuck to deal with his unappreciative attitude to the life they led. He followed after the rest of the group so they could play their game with a game plan to get Nate drunk and high later so it could be a little bit easier.

xoxo

Blair smiled into the camera as the lights flashed over and over again, with all eyes on her and she loved every second of it. The only thing that was a downer was that she couldn't seem to give the photographer what it was that he was looking for by way of posing. She glanced over at her mother , hoping to not see the look of disappointment on her face just yet and only found a look of pride that had been missing from her face in regards to Blair for as long as Blair could remember.

As the photographer kept going on and on for her to jump around and loosen up, Blair tried her best to give him what he was asking for. But letting lose and relaxing was not one of Blair's strong suits. It took a lot for her to open up to people and allow them to see her softer side, and now this stranger was asking for it outright. Blair looked just beyond the photographer at Serena as she went through all the clothes excitedly.

Blair only wished that she could go back to being how she was when she was playing with Kati, Iz, and Serena in her bedroom. She was completely relaxed then; which was exactly what was needed now. When the photographer said that she could take a break she sighed in relief, almost getting the feeling that she wasn't succeeding with following his instructions.

While he was busy talking to Mellissa about something, probably about wanting to try another angle on his supposed "vision", she smiled over at the make-up person as they touched her up. Even though she was feeling a bit uncomfortable, Blair was having fun being the focus.

Blair looked up as Serena came over and squealed out to her in greeting, making Blair chuckle a bit as she turned towards her best friend as Serena spoke, wrapping a scarf around her shoulders as she exclaimed, "First of all, you look amazing!"

Blair's smile grew as she said right back, "I know."

The two shared a laugh before Serena started talking, "But look can I give you a little tip?"

Blair rolled her eyes as she continued to smile indulgently, not at all surprised, "How did I know this was coming?"

Serena quickly tried to explain, not wanting Blair to be mad, "No. Look all you need to do is maybe, you could loosen up a bit?"

Blair looked at Serena as she did a bit of a shimmy in front of her as she took ahold of Blair's arms in her hands as she smiled at her and shook her a bit, making Blair laugh, "You know? Just shake it out!" Serena made a raspberry to emphasize her point, making Blair laugh at how crazy she was.

As Serena continued on with her tips, Blair looked over to the side, feeling her smile slowly drop as she took in what was going on and how Mellissa was pointing over at them. Realizing that she was really blowing this, Blair looked to Serena and interrupted her as she spoke, "Help me. Help me."

For Blair Waldorf that was as close to begging as she would ever get and Serena knew it, "Um, okay. Act like a tiger." Serena then proceeded to act like one in front of Blair, looking completely ridiculous and yet beautiful; the way that only Serena Van Der Woodsen could get away with.

Feeling subconscious about looking anything other than perfect, Blair roared half-heartedly as she lifted her hands in front of her like they were paws. It wasn't long before the photographer was up again with his camera taking photos and Blair slowly started relaxing and following what Serena suggested. Feeling a bit ridiculous at first, but she started actually relaxing and having fun as she went through all the different personalities from Posh spice in America, to crazy Brittany Spears with the umbrella, finishing up with the hand on the hip and popping like they did in her room just this morning.

Everything seemed to be turning up until Serena's phone rang and she was picking up her bag making Blair ask a bit worried, "What are you doing?"

Serena looked up at her from her phone as she answered, "Oh shoot! I gotta go, my date with Dan."

Blair was having none of that; she needed far more than Dan Humphrey from Brooklyn could possibly ever will. She insisted with, "No you're staying here. I need you," Blair then played her trump card, "I can't let my mother down."

With that Serena nodded after a moment and said that she was just going to call Dan to cancel and that she'd be right back. Blair nodded as she went back to what she was doing in front of the photographer, feeling like he was actually happy with what she was giving him by way of material. "Everything is working out just like I hoped it would. The last thing I need is to disappoint my mother once again when it matters the most," she thought silently as she posed, waiting for Serena to come back.

xoxo

That evening outside of an exclusive pub, a limo pulled out and Chuck Bass stepped out first, smiling at the sight before him, a line of beautiful women dressed in green tube tops and gold short shorts and a matching green fedora hats, and smiling.

He turned towards his guest who were getting out of the limo after him and opened his arms in greeting as he spoke, "Break free! Pub crawl, five boroughs…fifty pubs and five hundred chances to get laid!" Chuck grinned as the guys passed by him giving him a handshake as they pass and he continues on, "And remember, don't give your sheleigh leighs to the wrong pot of gold." Chuck smirked as everyone headed inside except for him and Nate.

He motioned Nate to come inside, kind of surprised that Nate was still pouting over his new hero being kicked to the curb, "Let's go you can think about your boyfriend inside."

Nate looked at him very seriously as he spoke with a shake of his head, "I'm not coming."

"Just when I thought I could finally relax and not have to worry about him, he pulls this," Chuck sighed as he thought silently to himself, walking over to Nate, getting a bit irritated, "Seriously. Carter Baizen sucks. Alright, I don't know what spell he's put you under, but he's not your friend. He can't be trusted."

Nate started getting defensive of his new friend, "And why's that? Just because he doesn't believe what you believe in?" Chuck rolled his eyes and looked away at Nate's naiveté as he continued on, "It's exactly what he said! The money, the drugs, the privileges is just keeping us numb so that we don't realize that it's better out there in the real world."

Chuck chuckled as he countered, leaning close to Nate's face as he gave him some truth, "The real world? Everyone out there, wants to be us. We are what you aspire to, not run away from. "

Nate let out a laugh as he looked at Chuck, completely wrapped up in the brainwash that was put on him by Carter as he responded, "You really don't get me do you?"

Chuck once again looked away as he decided to take another tactic to get his point across, "That dream of yours, what is it really? Cause, I hear you talking about how you don't want to go to Dartmouth, and how you don't want to follow in your father's footsteps. But what exactly is that that you do what?"

It was Nate's turn to look away with a slight shake of his head because he didn't have an answer and Chuck knew it; you can talk about what you don't want all the time, but it means nothing but a waste of breath if you don't have a counter of what you did want instead. Because then that would mean that you would have to admit that you weren't happy and that you had to do something to fix it, otherwise it would be your own fault for your unhappiness.

Nate finally answered after a moment, "All I know, is that it's not this."

Chuck responded, just over the entire conversation, "Well you better discover what it is before you throw everything away trying to find it."

Nate shook his head and walked away from Chuck, obviously feeling like there's nothing left to be said at that point in regards to their conversation. Chuck watched him leave before a thought occurred to him, "Now where are you going?"

He watched as Nate pulled out his phone and stood at the end of the block as he fiddled with it before taking off. Chuck simply shook his head as he headed inside with the rest of their Junior class as he thought silently as he picked up a whiskey from the bar, "He's a big boy and he can take care of himself it seems. I'm not going to let him ruin my night just because he's feeling self-righteous after his pep talk with Carter. I can't wait for that guy to be gone already! He's already cramping up my style."

xoxo

It had been a long day as Blair ran a brush though her hair at her vanity in her walk-in closet and prepared for a very early night in bed. For the first time in a long time, Eleanor actually looked at her daughter in pride as they rode home after the test shoot. Blair didn't see herself being a model at all, but to be a part of something this big of a deal to her mother and manage to gain her approval far outweighed the cons of being vulnerable to a few strangers so they could take a few photos.

She looked up from her mirror and smiled as she saw the person of her thoughts standing in the doorway, the look of pride still upon her face as Blair stood up in her nightgown and walk to her bed, not knowing the reason why her mother was here, watching her nightly routine.

They talked about what to expect from tomorrow and Eleanor actually verbalized her pride in Blair. It was the first time that the two talked so much; they talked over a light dinner and Eleanor didn't even criticize Blair once about her choice in food!

As Blair thought on this, she looked up at her mother, whom she always wanted to love her the way her father did so unconditionally, as she again for the first time in so many years tucked Blair into bed as she spoke, "I will see you in the morning. We'll go to the photo shoot together," Eleanor smiled as she gently moved Blair's hair off of her face as she spoke. She nodded in confirmation as she continued to play with Blair's hair as if she was seeing Blair for the first time as her little girl.

Feeling secure with her mother she had no hesitations with voicing this thought softly, "You haven't done this since I was little."

Eleanor stayed seated beside Blair as she countered, "You haven't been in bed by ten since you were little," making Blair smile as she nodded a bit in agreement, "You looked beautiful tonight, you know?"

Blair looked at her mother as she gave Blair one of the greatest compliments of all, in disbelief at seeing that she truly meant what she was saying. Unable to just accept it at that, Blair needed to hear it again confirmed from her mother's lips, "Really?"

Eleanor simply smiled at her daughter as Blair smiled back before she stood up and left Blair there in bed, shutting off the lights as she went and shut the door behind her with one last look at her daughter. Blair couldn't wipe the smile off her face if she even wanted to as she reached for her sleep mask and placed it on her head as she got comfortable and fell asleep. She was finally getting everything that she had always wanted and it was better than any movie or daydream she could come up with.

A/N: And there you are! Chapter 10! I know there wasn't any B and C interaction but I'll give you a little bit in the next chapter. Personally I'm with Chuck, being poor my entire life, I'd love to have rich people's problems lol So what did you think? I think this episode is a good split between Chuck and Blair so they can both be the focus of attention.

I can't say it enough how much I love my reviewers and readers! Every week the number of people who read this story grows at every update and it just warms my heart! That and the few reviews I get just hints to me that people are reading this story and are purposely coming back for more! 600 visitors at least on the update day! *fangirl screams* I'm sorry, it's just amazing to me especially since this is my first story. :) It's hard to believe that we're at Chapter 10 and we're not even at the halfway mark. I had a snow day on Thursday as well as a three day weekend so you can guess what I did! That's right I wrote! And if I wasn't writing, I was outlining for future chapters. I got all the way to Blair's birthday in regards to outlining and I finished the handmaiden's tale episode! So If you guys review and tell me you love me enough, I just may go ahead and post another chapter on Wednesday and again on that Saturday ;)

Anyway, I hope you love the chapter! Don't forget to check out my beta, EvelynBass, story Return Someday that I happen to beta for!

I'll update in a week at the latest, Wednesday at the earliest if I'm feeling the love (which I always do so I'll most likely will see you Wednesday! lol), two weeks till Spring break for me! :D

-Plei4fun