A/N: Update! Yay! And in less than a week! Aren't you proud? ;) *sigh* You have no idea how much I want to start writing Never Again: A Chuck & Blair Story again…but no! I will stick to my list. Lol. *is too determined it's almost SICK* Anyways, enjoy! And please review! ;p

Ch.10—Press Rewind

"B? Blair? B, come on. I think I lost you. Will you please just call me back?"

"Blair, I think you didn't get my last message. Call me back."

"B, you're starting to worry me. It's been over a half an hour since the call got dropped. Are you okay? Did something bad happen?"

"Blair, if you don't call me back right now, I'm coming over there."

The brunette sighed. She figured she should call her back. Besides, the last thing she wanted was a frantic Serena Van der Woodsen stomping over to her and Chuck's suite, determined to console the girl who—she would figure it out sooner or later—had intentionally hung up on her.

"S."

"Blair, are you alright?" she asked, worriedly.

"I'm fine. The call was simply dropped. That's it."

Silence. Serena was clearly skeptical, but said nothing of it.

"Are you going to the ball tonight?"

Silence.

"B?"

She sighed. "No, I don't think I'm going to," she ran a hand through her silken locks.

The blonde's eyebrows fused together. "But Chuck—"

"—is going with someone else."

Serena's lips parted. "B, are you su—"

She sighed, a little frustrated. "I'm positive. I just sent him off right now."

Silence. Blair knew she was beyond confused.

"Don't double think it, S. He's not on good terms with Jenny, so I just thought—"

"Jenny?" Serena gaped. "You sent him off with—"

"Yes, and why wouldn't I? Why is that so bad? It's not like he can really do anything." She rolled her eyes and Serena gulped. She should have known her best friend was still a little insecure from her comments, whether she declared to be or not. "They're practically related now."

Silence. Serena didn't know what to say. Anything she thought of could be taken the wrong way, especially by the way her best friend seemed to be taking things at the moment. So, she sighed.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"

"S, just because I don't have a date doesn't mean you don't. Aren't you going with—" she cut herself short. In her frustration with Chuck and Jenny and all the new information that held she had completely forgotten about what had just happened with Serena and Carter. Now there was just awkward silence.

Thankfully, Serena filled it only a few beats later. "Well, I think I'm going to go over. It is basically in our honor anyway—us alumni," she tried to joke, but the words cut Blair even deeper. It was in their honor, her honor, and her boyfriend was going to be seen on the arm of his soon to be stepsister instead of her. What would people think? No doubt there would be whispers amongst them, and she was sure one if not multiple pictures would be taken and sent to Gossip Girl. That was the last thing she wanted, even if that pathetic stalker had appeared to remain hidden throughout the summer.

She felt about to crumble. "So, you're going to go see if you can find Dan or Nate then?"

Serena nodded, subtly to herself. It seemed neither of them could find the right words to say without wounding the other. "Yeah," she breathed, "Nate will probably be with Bree, the girl he's supposedly in a forbidden relationship with."

Blair rolled her eyes. Though it was nice to have the attention off of her or Serena for a few moments. "Smart of him to show her off then," she scoffed, sarcasm lacing every word she spoke.

Serena cleared her throat, clearing agreeing. "Yeah." She sighed, "There's Dan though…"

The brunette rolled her eyes. Would the Brooklyn boy ever get out of their lives?

"And I'm sure he's dateless," Blair cut in, "so at least you'll have a dancing partner."

Serena ignored the insult. "Are you sure you don't want me to come get you, B? I don't want you to be all alone there tonight, especially when you could be dancing the night away," she spoke in that airy fairytale tone she knew Blair loved, but it only drew a sigh out of the brunette.

"No thanks, S. The only person I want to be dancing with tonight is Chuck, and it would be rude of him to go dancing with anyone but his date." She was bitter, but would not let her best friend interrupt with her frustrated sigh. "Besides, I've got Breakfast at Tiffany's on hold in the other room. I had to pause it right before you called. And I don't want to keep Audrey waiting, so if you don't mind…?" she left it open- ended instead of hanging up mid-Serena sentence like she had done before. She wouldn't want her best friend calling back a million times again. She rolled her eyes at the thought.

Serena nodded. "Okay B, but if you change your mind—"

"I'll let you know," she cut in, deciding not register the additional sigh coming from the voice on the other line. "Have fun, Serena." She forced a smile, hoping it would transfer to her voice for the almost-over call.

"I'll—"

Dial tone.

She sighed. Blair really had to stop doing that to her.

The brunette tossed her phone on the bed and made for the living room. She hadn't planned on hanging up on Serena again, but their good-byes seemed to be never-ending and she couldn't stand the lingering emotions about to burst of both their parts. She had to forget about Chuck. She had to forget. Just until he got home. Or maybe the rest of the time. Maybe she would leave and go back to her own penthouse. She was sure Dorota would be happy to see her. If no one else ever was, she could count on her over-protective maid Dorota.

But no. She had promised—or rather maybe he had assumed—that she would stay up and wait for him.

Sigh.

She could text him now and inform him that she was going home, but then he'd know something was up and he'd come back to her immediately. Screw Jenny, Blair was his highest priority. Now how was she supposed to get around this? They were together now. She couldn't say it wasn't his place. But at the same time she knew she was frustrating him by feeling the way she was feeling & acting the way she was acting, and it wasn't even over something he had done. She just kept feeling insecure. Everything had been fine again until he had said he was taking Jenny to this ball. Something in the pit of her stomach told her this was no accident. It wasn't just something casual. And obviously he would have taken her if he had known it was for Constance/St. Judes alumni.

God, she should've asked Serena.

She still could, she knew, but it would only cause more questions and troubling words from the girl who was wallowing in a broken heart herself. Quite honestly she didn't know why she was giving up Carter so soon to begin with. It wasn't like she or Chuck had approved of Humphrey.

She shook her head and collapsed onto the couch.

She knew he would've taken her…if he had known. He was so hesitant to take Little Humphrey from the start.

Sigh.

"I'm not insecure. I'm not insecure. I'm not insecure," she repeated countless times, turning her movie back on and keeping her eyes glued to the screen. She wasn't going to do this. She wasn't going to get caught up in her fears, in this anxiety that she felt would never end—this sick feeling she could never seem to turn off. It would be so twisted for Chuck to even go after Jenny regarding where they stood—their relationship. But she couldn't help thinking…

A tear slipped down the side of her face as she shut her eyes tightly.

Why is this so hard?!

"Just stop it Blair!" she commanded herself, growing truly aggravated by how this had all built up. What would happen when something serious broke out between them? "Stop it!" she whimpered, crawling into a ball along the lengthy sofa.

The ball room was beautiful, she had to admit. They had everything from ribbons to sparkles and the spotlights were perfectly positioned all about the room. The theme seemed to be a deep red, signifying the beginning of fall she guessed, but summer was still there and she didn't want to think what would happen in those first few weeks of September.

Her eyes searched through the crowd. She spotted Penelope at the head of the other mean girls. She was basically Blair Waldorf without a heart and Serena had never taken kindly to her. She was the bitchiest of the bunch. The only cold-hearted brunette she approved of was her best friend, Blair Waldorf, because she had seen her in her weaker moments: when she was crying over her father's sexual orientation, when that very fact had let to her parent's divorce and her father moving across the ocean to France, when bulimia took over her and her perfect image was seen as anything but in her own eyes. Plus, Blair took care of them. She took care of Nate and Serena and Chuck…

She sighed, texting Blair one more time. She was completely unconvinced that the Blair she knew was okay. She regretted beyond belief her comments to Blair some days after she had come back. If Chuck and Blair wanted to play their games, who was she to interfere? It was what they were best at, and if nothing had happened all summer, then nothing would. Chuck was madly in love with her best friend and she knew he would never intentionally hurt her, not while he was in his right mind.

But…

She shook her head, inwardly cursing herself for the thought. They had ended the game and Serena felt it was best, but the after effects were dreadful. She didn't know what it would take to bring Blair to the realization of her very faithful boyfriend. She was sure beyond any doubt that Blair's intensified, revived insecurities were bothering Blair as much, if not more, than they were bothering she and Chuck combined.

Are you ok?

-S

She sent the text to Blair, her worried sunken stomach bothering her more than any irritancy she would get from her best friend. She knew the brunette probably didn't want to see her, but there was no way she could possibly be okay with the current situation.

"No."

Her eyes widened, and slowly she turned around towards the voice she had just heard. An apologetic, sorrowful Carter Baizen was standing there, holding his phone up to where she could see his most recent text message. It seemed her fingers had slipped from B to C on her contacts list. And the C had not been Chuck Bass, it had been Carter Baizen. She sucked in a breath.

"Carter—"

"No, Serena."

Her lips snapped shut, keeping her eyes pinned to his own.

"I'm not okay."

She swallowed, closing her eyes. "It was a mistake."

His breathing grew ragged.

"The text," she clarified, carefully allowing her eyes to reach his gaze again. "It was a mistake. I meant it for Blair."

Silence filled the air and she honestly thought he hadn't planned what to say after that first attempt to win her back. It wasn't as if she would let him win her back, but maybe…no. Don't think like that.

"But I got it," he said suddenly, and she blinked, pulling herself out of the daze she had fallen into. He took another step closer to her.

"Carter—"

"No, Serena."

She sighed, realizing that their little dance had started over. She closed her eyes again when his hands brought hers together and held them.

"What?" she asked, trying hard to ignore how warm and at peace she felt when she heard her name fall from his lips.

"I miss you."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "You miss me?" she asked, a touch incredulous. He nodded subtly. "What does that mean?" she asked after a second. She had to be calm, mature, about this. She couldn't blow up in his face just because she was planning on saying no from the start. He gestured to the tables off to the left, all decorated in satin and silk, and she nodded, granting him her consent. They would sit together and try to figure themselves out, though she was beyond sure he couldn't change her mind.

"What makes me different?" he asked, once they had gotten comfortable in their seats. It crossed his mind that she was more beautiful than he had ever seen her, but he supposed they were not at the sort of place where he could just lay that on her—he would probably have it thrown back in his face, negatively.

She sighed, playing with her fingers at the edge of the table, watching their intimate dance. "What makes you different…" she repeated, acting for a moment as if she didn't already know the answer. He said nothing and it made her wonder if he was going to spend the whole night making her speak. Her lips pursed together and her eyes finally looked up at him. "In general….or in comparison to someone else?" she raised her eyebrows, and it was as if he could read her mind.

Dan.

"Both," he said, and she nodded, lowering her gaze another time.

"In general," she cleared her throat, "All the adults in my life love you, and all my friends and siblings hate you."

He looked at her, unable to prevent the hints of a smirk that crept up along his lips.

"And in comparison?" he cocked his head to the side. Her eyes lifted to his again.

"To who?" she asked, regardless of the image running through her head. Out of the corner of her eye she even saw him, talking with Vanessa, both in their evening wear. It occurred to her then how Vanessa had managed to get in, especially since beside her was a boy that she could only guess had not gone to St. Judes. Perhaps Dan had pulled some strings.

"You know who."

Her eyes focused back on him. Apparently she had turned her head a bit on dwelling just a little more on the Dan/Vanessa/Scott situation.

"Dan," she said, as if it had been obvious—on both of their minds, both daring the other to speak it first.

"Serena, darling, this is Carter Baizen, your escort for tomorrow night." He smiled at her. "Do you two know each other?" her grandmother spoke on greeting, her face bright with enthusiasm.

Carter turned to the older woman. "Actually we used to go to school together. Just a couple years apart."

"Oh," Cece commented softly, clearly enjoying that fact.

"Carter," he held his hand out to the brown-haired boy standing almost in front of him.

"This is Daniel Humphrey," she informed him, scrutinizing his every move.

The boy avoiding her gaze. "Dan, actually," he said, firmly shaking Carter's hand.

"…Serena's friend," Cece said, still giving him a once-over.

"No, my boyfriend," Serena interjected.

"Oh," Carter smiled, "nice to meet you man."

"Nice to meet you," he returned."

Serena beamed.

"Dan's about to become my step-brother."

Carter's eyes flashed to hers, having sunken to a dreamy state at the memory he was sure they both had remembered. She saw a small tinge of relief fall over them before he blinked it away, and strangely enough she felt the need to reassure him of no possibility of her and Dan again. Family doesn't date family after all. That's just sick, even Chuck agrees. There was no reason to be jealous.

He raised his eyebrows, zoning in on the expressions of her face. "Why then, do you treat me so differently?"

Her eyebrows drew together, confused.

"Chuck and Blair despised Dan, and I'm guessing he felt the same way. You didn't break up with him because of those unlevel grounds."

She was silent.

He leaned across the table, careful to keep his closed hands a safe distance from hers, and looked into her eyes sincerely. "So I ask you, Serena, once again, what makes me different?"

"So…" Nate began, on finally managing his way out of Bree's freckled arms and over to Chuck who was lingering by the huge glass bowl of punch. "You having fun?"

Chuck kept his eyes pinned on Jenny across the room, chatting away with Eric and Jonathan. "Loads," he answered, briskly taking another gulp in of his drink.

Nate looked at him with almost confused eyes and then shook his head with a laugh. "Good, 'cause you definitely sound like it," his words dripped in sarcasm, but it went unbeknownst to his best friend.

"Thanks," Chuck turned to him, still keeping a careful eye on the laughing blonde across the way. Then he focused on Nate directly. "Were you by chance aware that this night included us…"

Nate raised his eyebrows.

"Alumni," he clarified.

"Oh!" the blonde realized, chuckling a bit. "Yeah, of course. I thought everyone did," he said, handing him a pamphlet from behind him that described the event. And sure enough, in big, bold letters:

CONSTANCE & ST. JUDES ALUMNI BALL

Chuck shook his head at the very blatant truth staring him in the face. He should have looked into it, or assumed at the very least. If Jenny could come with him…then surely he could have brought Blair. He even spotted Dan with Vanessa and some other guy that could not have belonged there—at St. Judes. He was clearly out of his mind when he didn't even consider Blair a possible prospect to take as his date.

"I'm…guessing you didn't know?" Nate asked, half a beat later.

Chuck turned to him and scoffed. "You're brilliant, you know?"

Nate pursed his lips, silencing his words for the moment. That was when he spotted Jenny across the room and came to the conclusion of Chuck's visual attention earlier. Eric had brought Jonathan, and Chuck had brought Jenny, but where was—?

"Blair."

"Yep."

"You didn't know, and so she—"

"—didn't know."

"And so you brought, you brought Jenny?" he asked, in almost complete shock.

Chuck held up his hand in a gesture. "I was doing a favor for Lily."

Nate shook his head, still being a bit unable to take this all in. "And Blair probably knows now too…" he contemplated, out loud.

The brunette's head turned in his direction. "How do you gather that?" His arms folded across his chest.

"Well, Serena's sitting there across the room," he pointed to where the blonde was in deep discussion with none other than Carter Baizen. Chuck scoffed just at having to look at the set-up.

"And?" he prompted, looking away now.

"And Serena knew. Who do you think she'd tell?"

Chuck's eyes widened.

He was silent for far too long and Nate was starting to get nervous when he saw tiny beads of sweat appear at the top of Chuck's forehead. It really looked like he was conflicted.

"Go get her, Chuck."

The boy's eyes snapped to his. "What? Who?"

"Blair," he rolled his eyes, wondering how he had become the smart one for the evening.

Realization swept over Chuck's face, but a torn expression replaced it. "I—I ca—"

"I'm sure Lily will understand," he said, almost laughing as he placed an arm around Chuck's shoulders.

"No, no," Chuck shook his head, pacing a bit and then finally coming to stand in front of his best friend whose eyes were showing extreme concern. Their eyes met. "I can't just abandon my little sister."

A/N: So, the last scene was a bit short, but I hope you didn't mind. ;) Please review! I'll try to get to QBfaR tonight, if not I will most definitely update it tomorrow. Thanks for reading! =D