A/N: Lol sorry for the NS scare, but he likes her on the show so trying to keep things in character. Yep, that's right, Serena can do Bart and Chuck, but foregoing Nate's crush?
That would be insanity.
Blair was always cautious when entering Chuck's suite. She could die quite happily never knowing the secrets of 1812.
It was unusually quiet, no murmurs or music. The lights were switched off, moonlight painting the world in cold blues. She spared a quick glance at his bed. From the tangled limbs sticking out the bottom of the blanket it looked to be three girls, but she could have been wrong.
Chuck leaned against the window, one hand gripping the sill, the other—swathed in bandages—hung limply by his side. On anyone else it would be a whimsical pose; on Chuck whimsical seemed vaguely menacing.
But she was biased.
She stood on the other side of the window, facing him. She was glad he refused to look at her, she wasn't certain she wanted to know what was in his gaze at the moment.
"You're door was unlocked," she informed him, slightly curious.
He scanned her in his usual lecherous manner, but his thoughts were too distant to put any real effort into it. "No point in locking it," he said, turning back to the window.
Blair's brows knitted. She didn't understand his words and she didn't understand his mood, and she really didn't like feeling out of her depth. "No, of course not. You're probably only holding a million dollars worth of bowties and three missing hookers."
"They're escorts," he corrected automatically.
Chuck met her eyes with a slow blink, as if really seeing her for the first time. "What are you doing here?" he questioned unwelcomingly.
Blair put her hands on her hips with a defiant look. "What are you doing?" she demanded, barest edge of heat to her tone. "You slept with Serena. And then you had some major melt-down. In public." She touched his bandaged hand gently. "You hit your father didn't you?"
They were both speaking quietly, neither one wanting to deal with Chuck's escorts.
She let the perfect Queen Bee exterior fade to show genuine concern. "Talk to me," she commanded. (Queen Bee was never that far.)
Chuck gave her a dark look, and anyone else would have backpedalled. "Why do you care?" Why don't you care more?
She closed her eyes for a long moment. She really didn't want to deal with this. Not with the wounds he'd opened still so tender. "Because I do." More than I should. "Just because I'm with Nate doesn't mean I don't. Now talk."
Her words were more of a comfort than he'd expected, and the pent up rage that had been strangling him all day seemed to loosen. "My father is a bastard." He wanted the words to be flippant, but they came out deep and gravelly.
Blair nodded. Obviously. "But what changed?"
"I assume you know what an excellent night I had yesterday?" he teased.
She managed a tight lipped smile, managing not to bite back. (They'd be talking about that later.)
"My father fired me. Said I was a public disgrace," he sneered. "Because apparently we're allowed to be disgraceful—fucking our stepdaughters and whatnot—but doing it publicly crosses the line." He continued in a lighter tone, because he would not care that his father was banishing him. "So now it's off to college or the marines." He raised an amused brow. "I heard your BFF was getting a similar deal." Couldn't even say her name anymore.
Blair took in the information, already trying to find a way around their problems. No matter how mutilated her perfect plans were becoming, there were certain things that were nonnegotiable. And the N-JBC being separated was one of them. "Just like S to leave that part out," she sighed.
She waved a dismissive hand. "We'll figure something out. Your father doesn't exactly have a clean slate." She smoothed her hands along her dress, eyes narrowing with sudden determination. She remembered the real reason for coming. Her words came out with dangerous sweetness. "Now tell me what the hell you were thinking last night. Or which part were you thinking with?" She started pacing. "We blackmail Lily with her gross Brooklyn love-child. We get her away from Rufus. Lily unknowingly got Bart away from Serena. It was perfect."
She paused to glare at Chuck. "I didn't go to all that trouble just so you could fulfil some sick fantasy with my best friend!" She took a deep breath, waiting to see if she'd woken his guests. She continued in a quieter voice that still managed to convey her disgust. "Tell me the truth about you and Serena."
Chuck smirked, opening his mouth to reply.
She cut in before he could say whatever perverted line he was about to give her. "And think about your words Bass, because whatever we are, it does not give you free reign to use Serena as a cheap drunken lay."
Blair knew exactly what her friend's 'standards' were on tequila-soaked nights. But it was Blair's job to protect Serena from Serena (and vice versa), and God help Chuck if he had just made Blair fail at it—the only job that really mattered.
He eyed her cautiously. "What else would she be?" Give me something, anything, because I can't describe it.
Blair wanted to stamp her foot, because this was going to be impossible if Chuck and Serena insisted on being emotionally stunted commitment-phobes. She tried to read something behind his mask of indifference, but the only thing she could see was how perfectly restrained his emotions were.
"What was the argument about? And don't tell me the lies you told S, because you know and I know that you weren't so concerned about her affair when you were all naked and sweaty." And she would not visualise that at all.
He stiffened, mask cracking to reveal something angry and confused. "Her and Bart..." He could not say 'father'. "It wasn't just sex."
"What?" she asked, honestly confused.
"I saw them...hugging." It came out like a dirty word, because it freaked him out a lot more than sex. "He comforted her. What if there's more to it?" It came out in a rush. He tried really hard not to sound desperate.
Blair tried not to smile, but Chuck rarely looked so cute. His eyes were all wide with a tell me there's no such thing as the bogeyman expression. "It's never about sex," she explained softly.
He scowled at her insanity. "It's always about sex."
"No. It's not." She waved a hand at his bed and its occupants and were they really getting paid to sleep? "That is not about sex."
He gave a delicate snort. "If you believe that, you should have been here half an hour earlier."
"It's not," she insisted.
"Then what is it?" he humoured her.
"A diversion." She could see it now: him and Serena and their games of move-so-fast-the-truth-can't-find-you. "From me. From Serena. From anything that could hurt you. And do I really have to explain Serena and Bart? With all her daddy issues even doctor Phil couldn't miss this one."
"You're delusional," he told her, but looked uneasily towards his bed.
She thought so too. She was helping the guy who broke her heart get a chance at the only girl who'd done the same. She smacked his chest and he gave her a surprised look. She needed his full attention, because this was a onetime thing. "You ruined us." But not me, she had to remind herself for the thousandth time. "Ruined us with your sleaze, because you couldn't man-up and risk getting hurt." A quiet bitterness slipped into her words.
Chuck was a hair's breadth away from looking repentant. He didn't like regret. "I didn't—"
"No." She held up a hand to wave off his words, because that was over and she wouldn't go there again. "And you're doing the same thing now. For whatever reason, probably because she's weak and vulnerable, you have a shot with S—the only other girl you've ever cared about. Don't mess it up."
Chuck gave her a searching look. "What do I do?"
"Be the adult. Talk to her," she huffed.
He looked petulant. "Why do I have to be the adult?"
"Because we'll be here forever if you're waiting for S to do it."
xoxoxo
Chuck had always loathed breakfast. How did people eat this early in the morning? He wondered how Serena stood it after getting clean the last time. This morning's tension made the meal officially intolerable.
It had almost been funny. Serena was running late for work again. Lily was confused over what Serena was running late for. Bart informed Serena that she no longer had a job (to give her more time to prepare for Brown). And then Serena coughing up toast crumbs all over the table while Lily chastised her and Eric clapped her on the back.
When Lily and Eric left, Serena followed Bart into the foyer.
She latched onto his wrist. "You can't just take over my life." She tried desperately to sound calm and adult; she knew how little he'd respect her if she sounded as young and hysterical as she felt.
He gently removed her grip. "I'll stop when you can do it for yourself."
Serena was left alone, staring dully at the door.
"You should be proud." Chuck said, coming up behind her. "Father Dearest would have cut up another credit card, if I'd so much as implied any ownership over my life."
"Comforting," she sighed, still not looking at him.
Serena's blonde mane was pulled into a loose braid; it made it easier to see her delicate features. Chuck was surprised by how tired and thin she looked. Her navy eyes seemed huge and too weary.
"Can we talk?" he asked casually.
"That sounds awful," Serena blurted with a grimace.
"Yeah," he agreed vehemently, silently cursing Blair.
He wondered if he should touch her, but decided to shove his hands in his pockets instead.
"S," he said to get her attention. She met his eyes evenly, pulling herself together at the sound of her old nickname. "I'm sorry about what I did...About the elevator and stuff," he clarified, because he didn't want her to think he was sorry about the sex.
She plucked at the end of her silk scarf. "It's okay."
He shook his head. It really wasn't. She'd hugged his father and he'd punished her by being vicious and cruel. He wanted to be the one she came to for comfort, but he'd done absolutely nothing to earn her trust.
He wanted to find the words: words to tell her that he didn't know how to be nice, but that he'd learn for her. That was his only chance of deserving her.
"You don't have to be nice, S. I was out of line. Maybe you could slap me or something?" he teased, his voice coming out rough.
She laughed—it was a shadow of her normal bright sound. "You'd like that way too much," she said with a quirked eyebrow. "It's okay. Really. You were...shocked. And I was wrong...about you and Bart and stuff. And can I just say, you've made an astonishing amount of progress in the last," she checked her nonexistent watch, "twenty hours or so."
She took a step towards him, automatically reaching up to turn his collar down over his knitted vest.
"I'm glad that's cleared up," he said inanely, trying not to make any sudden movements under her ministrations.
She snatched her hands away anyway. "Uhuh. Promise never to pop your collar again and we're good."
He scowled. "It was an accident. I forgot."
She shrugged, eyes filled with mirth.
He was just going to blurt it out. Something stupid and true. I like you or something trite like that, just the kind of thing Serena always fell for. Before he could open his mouth, she threw her arms around his neck—but it didn't carry her usual emphatic affection. It felt forced, as if latching on to normal never quite worked. She disappeared from his grasp before he could even appreciate it, running out the door to get her job back.
He really wished she'd slow down sometimes.
E/N: Is document manager uploading stuff for anyone else? :( Had to edit an old doc to update.