A/N: Another update! I hope you are all pleased.

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. Characters in any incarnation are form the GGverse. Thanks to suspensegirl for the beta.

Tyler had lost count how many drinks he had consumed. But no matter how much there were, they were more than Chuck had. For the past half an hour, Tyler has been staring at his best friend staring at the wall of the bar they had gone to that night.

Tyler never drank more than Chuck did. But whatever suspicions Tyler had formed in the past months, he couldn't help but brush it aside for what his friend was clearly going through at the moment.

He still couldn't help but be slightly irritated when Chuck started to brood.

"Is she still here?"

Chuck still hadn't touched the drink that was in front of him.

"I can't say I'm aware of any other motivation for her being here after confessing her sins to me," Chuck said, "though I'm still not sure why she did that."

"Does it matter?" Tyler asked, for the first time, hearing the insensitivity in his own voice.

"She's my sister." Chuck looked just as surprised as Tyler at the loyalty in his own voice.

"And she betrayed mine," Tyler said slowly. He didn't like these lines that were being drawn. But he was fairly certain that he would never have to count Chuck as an enemy.

"I'm not picking sides," Chuck replied definitively.

"Worse," Tyler argued. "You're not telling me which one you're on. Besides, it doesn't matter. It won't matter to Blair. She won't care."

"Why not?"

"Because it's Nate," Tyler said.

"So they're getting back together?"

And then all the suspicion came flooding back to him. Chuck from time to time would say strange things like that—things he didn't use to care about at all.

"We haven't talked about it," Tyler said coolly.

"He betrayed her," Chuck said. "Even though he had an excuse."

"You call that an excuse?" Tyler asked. "It's adultery."

"But it is the one secret that every gossip magazine—and networking site for that matter—would die to get their hands on," Chuck said. "The Captain Archibald, embezzler."

"And Serena entrusted you with this information, why?" Tyler asked. "You told me."

"But who are you going to tell?" Chuck asked, smirking for the first time that night.

"If a gun was being held to Nate's head it wouldn't matter," Tyler finished. "Blair is Blair. She needs to be in control."

Chuck knew that was something they all could count on.

Nate never felt comfortable in Blair's room. Especially after everything, he couldn't be expected to. But as Sloane did her makeup in the mirror and he sat on his girlfriend's bed, he knew that the blonde wasn't doing him any favors. He was just another piece of furniture to her.

He didn't blame her.

Sloane had eyes just like Blair's.

When he walked in to find her that day he knew that without a doubt Blair had told her roommate everything that he said—even if it was only one sentence.

Now he just waited.

He didn't know when Blair was coming back. As a matter of fact, he was surprised that Sloane even let him in the room. But she was going out, and it was a form of torture by just making him wait when Blair might not even be returning that night.

He didn't want to think about where she was at that moment. He knew it was Blair and she didn't betray those that she cared about.

But he didn't know if she cared about him anymore. And he knew that when it came to retribution, Blair had always been an advocate of an eye for an eye.

It seemed like eons before there was a knock at the door. Nate straightened as Sloane went to answer it, ignoring him as usual. It didn't occur to him as she opened the door that Blair wouldn't knock on the door of her own room.

Instead Sloane's boyfriend walked through the door. Princeton gave one look at Nate and gazed questioningly at Sloane.

"He's waiting for Blair," she explained curtly. Nate expected that to be that, but Princeton laughed as though he knew him.

Nate had been certain that he'd seen him around the fraternities.

"He'll be waiting awhile," Princeton said easily.

"What?"

These were people that Nate knew were not on his side. But still, he didn't think that Sloane would just let him waste away in a room when she knew that her roommate wasn't going to show.

"You know that the Harvard game is today," he replied.

Though he wasn't known to understand subtext, Nate understood what that meant.

"She stood you up," Princeton finished.

Everyone knew that Blair Waldorf didn't miss Yale traditions.

When Chuck stumbled back into what he thought was an empty penthouse, he stopped short at the kitchen. He stared down at the bags in the foyer.

Serena's exasperated sigh made him look up.

"Troubles?" he smirked. He sat himself at the island in the kitchen.

"Me?" But she almost sounded relieved. He knew what it was like to be lonely. And he supposed all she really wanted was finally for someone to stop her from running away. "And what gutter did you crawl out of?"

"The one on the Lower West Side," Chuck sneered.

"Classy."

They were silent for a moment. He knew what this was. He knew that they were both replacing each other for someone who would have nothing to do with them.

And both their someones happened to be the same person.

"Like you," Chuck retorted. "Leaving already?"

"I came. I saw."

"What was the real reason you came?" Chuck asked. "To beg for an audience with Tyler?"

"No," Serena said. "That wasn't the reason that I came."

Chuck waited. "And?"

"I was just…" Serena said, "curious."

"You know your brother missed you," Chuck said. "And I'm not talking about me."

"I didn't assume that you were," Serena said. "But somehow you seem to be the voice of family morality."

"Maybe I'm maturing."

"I wouldn't count on it."

"You're not the only one."

Serena's eyes narrowed. She had that effect on people. It wasn't something that was overly evident, but sometimes, Chuck could feel it. Serena knew more than she let on. She gave the air of ignorance but he knew she was more of an observer than anyone.

"I'll see you around, Chuck."

As Chuck watched her valet trail behind her to the elevator, he was fairly certain that he would.

"You missed your sister."

Eric had just come in striding from his room.

"No I didn't."

"Something tells me that wasn't her main reason for being here."

"Seeing me?" Eric asked. "And what turned you into such a sleuth?"

Serena wasn't the only observer.

"I don't have a problem," Chuck said. It was best to address all things he was sure that was on everyone's minds.

But he should have known. He knew that it sounded just like the opposite.

"Who said there's a problem?" Eric asked.

"It's what they don't say."

Sloane had been apprehensive about leaving Nate alone in the room. But it was true that there wasn't anything he could do to it. And he was refusing to leave until his flighty girlfriend returned—if she was still referring to herself as such.

He saw her dead looks and her distant demeanor. He hadn't had any illusions about their relationship. He knew that it would be hard to convince her of his loyalty.

He just thought that she would at least want to be convinced.

He stared at the ceiling, feeling her body heat next to him. But somehow, she was still cold. She was Blair. He had been with her since puberty. But she was so far away. And he knew that it was the time that they finally put all the cards on the table.

"Look, Blair," Nate started. He felt her react subtly next to him, but made no further comment. "You either forgive me and move on...or we end it."

It came out easier than he had originally thought it would. It slid out with such ease; he knew it was on both of their tongues for a long time.

"I've moved on."

It was the first thing she said, and his heart dropped into his stomach.

"Do you forgive me?" Nate pressed.

"For what?"

He hated that. "I'm not playing that game, Blair."

Blair finally sat up suddenly. Nate looked up at her. They were in such an intimate position. But somehow, lying in bed together was something so innocent he couldn't comprehend it. It was like they were twelve again and didn't know what hurt or true emotion was.

"You think I care that you slept with my best friend," Blair stated coldly. He almost wished that he hadn't said anything. "I wish I could say that I was surprised."

That did surprise him. He eased up next to her, studying her with clear eyes.

"I'm not," Blair continued honestly. "I told you the truth. It doesn't matter to me. It would seem that you're the one who wants out of it."

"I don't," Nate protested, struggling for words. "I was confused. We've been through so much."

"So forget about it," Blair said apathetically. "I know I have."

"Then why did you stand me up?" Nate asked. "If I need to do some sort of penance-"

"This isn't penance," Blair stated. "I wasn't trying to punish you. If I was, you would know."

Blair slid off the bed, the conversation obviously done when it came to her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"It's the game," Blair said. "You had to have known I would have gone."

"You don't even like sports."

"It's tradition."

That was it. In one simple sentence, Nate understood everything that had happened. He knew why Blair was going through the motions, and why she was even still in the same room with him.

Tradition.

For the first time, he wasn't thinking about her. She shone as bright as the sun but at that moment, Nate wasn't thinking about Serena van der Woodsen. At that moment, Nate was consumed with the darkness that was just occurring to him. It was the darkness that blossomed at the look of Blair Waldorf's eyes and the betrayal.

And that was when he knocked directly into the thing that he wasn't thinking about.

"Nate." Serena's smile was still radiant, but he knew exactly what she was feeling. He was feeling it too and neither of them wanted to be there.

He was just more convinced of it.

"Hey." It was difficult to make eye contact with her.

He was sure that she could tell as she sighed in defeat.

"I should—"

"Nate," Serena said, putting a hand on his arm and stopping him from making his escape, "wait."

"I can't," Nate said. "We… can't."

Serena studied him for a moment. "It sounds like you've talked to Blair."

"Have you?"

"No," Serena admitted. "She won't talk to me."

"I'm not sure if that's any better than what she's doing to me."

"She still hasn't forgiven you."

"Listen, Serena," Nate said. "Now really isn't—"

"So you're not going to talk to me anymore?" Serena asked. He hated her. He hated how her downcast eyes were filled with such sadness and how easily it could strike him to his core.

"Things are just—"

"Fine," Serena cut him off again. "Have a nice day."

And he hated that. How she was so cold in her pleasantries. He knew how much was his fault and it hurt.

"Where have you been?"

But he still couldn't help himself. She was sad and he was sad and he knew that this was exactly what led them astray to begin with.

He just couldn't help himself.

Serena turned back to him, but her eyes weren't kind.

"I just haven't seen you in awhile," Nate concluded.

"I was home," Serena said. There wasn't any hint of bitterness to her voice. He missed that. Serena didn't hold a grudge against anybody. Sometimes, it was just relaxing to be with her. "I wanted to see my brothers."

"How is Eric?" Nate asked politely. He still remembered his courtesies.

Serena was quiet for a moment. "And Chuck."

She could see right through him. It didn't take much. It wasn't a secret the bad blood that was between Nate Archibald and Chuck Bass. He would rather just not dwell on it. But he was Serena's family. He knew that she never ignored that.

"You never really warmed up to him," Serena remarked.

"He's an arrogant, narcissistic, womanizing bastard."

"Big words," Serena said. "You sound like Blair."

"The one thing we agree on."

"She used to tolerate him."

"Until he befriended her brother."

"You did too," Serena said. "I know you like to rewrite history, but you used to be friends. Best friends."

"That doesn't change anything."

Serena knew when to let up. She was right. It was all history. And she couldn't write the present. Nate didn't like Chuck. Not anymore. It was best to move on.

"I saw Tyler too."

"And?" Nate asked.

"And he loves his sister. How do you think he greeted me?"

"I think a lot of people can't help but swear fealty to Blair—"

It wasn't Serena that cut Nate off this time. She followed his eyes and once again, marveled at her talent at messing everything up.

Blair stood there. There was no anger in her eyes. There wasn't even disappointment. In the middle of campus, all Blair looked was apathetic.

Nate didn't even leave a parting word as he chased after her.

She was walking away and he felt like that was all she was doing lately.

"Blair—"

No one let him speak anymore.

"If I were you," Blair said coolly without even looking back at him, "I would just be accepting my forgiveness with grace instead of chatting up your concubine."

That stopped Nate in his tracks.

She felt his eyes on her and she knew that her golden best friend was also looking at the display. Eleanor was right.

Blair did have a tendency to lean towards the dramatic. But that was just enough. She had a destructive personality and this was just enough.

Her phone was in her hand and her anger was in her chest. It was whirling around in her brain and she wanted to scream.

Somehow, his number was in the outgoing call.

"Hey. It's me." She paused. It was all she could say.

"Waldorf."