Nine
Vision blurry and room swimming, Chuck cringed as he heard the highball glass shatter on the marble floor only seconds after losing his very unsteady grip on it. He half cursed Nate for dismissing his attempt to hang out and help him cool down a bit after Isobel's charade, knowing that he would not be soaked in scotch and whatever else he'd had right now if Nate had come back to the penthouse with him. As he looked down, the shards glittered and Chuck laughed mockingly at how something so dangerous could be so beautiful. A metaphor for my life, he thought to himself as he got up to pour a new glass. In recent years he had seen himself relying less on his "amber therapist" but lost all self-control after the catastrophic evening. He shakily lifted the decanter but decided against having more as disgust over the binge set in. Slumping to the ground, he laid his head in his hands, barely able to process the night in his clouded mind. Guilt overtook him as he realized that he was completely obliterated the night before Nate's wedding, a day he would be needed now more than ever. Even worse, he had been driven to drink not because of the anguish he felt for his friend but because of the evening's other surprise. Despite his alcohol drenched brain, Chuck was aware of how stupid he'd been to not mentally prepare for Blair's appearance at the party. He was, however, shocked at the emotional response that seeing, and more so, being ignored by her had produced, and he knew that his out of control bender was fully related to it. Confusion swirled in his mind, and he was only brought back to some semblance of reality when the grandfather clock chimed in the distance, signaling the three o'clock hour. Chuck knew he needed to try to sleep if he wanted to be any use tomorrow. He quickly drank some water, knowing he was kidding himself to think he'd be able to prevent any kind of hangover, and crawled to the plush chaise in the room, unable to drag himself to his bed three rooms over. Shallow and fitful sleep came over him, with an unrelenting vision of Blair taunting his dreams. When the sunlight streamed over him mere hours later, he knew he was in for a long day. What he didn't know was that he was in for an even longer night.