A/N: Hey there readers! Okay, I've been pretty busy lately but I figured I'd update. I mean, it's been quite awhile since I've updated this fic which I'm really sorry about but it's just school had been pretty hectic those last days. Then I didn't even get out of school until the 12th. Ugh.

Okay, in this chapter, I finally got around to doing some stuff I wanted to write since the beginning of this thing. Hopefully, you like it. Also, this is weird to say since I've really enjoyed writing this fic, but it's almost to an end now. Next chapter will be the last I think and I'll finally be able to write the ending I had always intended to write. Enjoy the chapter! :)

Songs I Listened To While Writing This Chapter: I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas, Come On Get Higher by Matt Nathanson, Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship ft. Leighton Meester (I find this song to be pretty damn catchy), Dark On Fire by Turin Brakes

"So come on get higher, loosen my lips
Faith and desire and the swing of your hips
Just pull me down hard
And drown me in love."

- Matt Nathanson, Come On Get Higher

Chapter Thirteen: There's Only Tonight Left

Chuck & Blair walked around Central Park a little while longer, both silently remembering childhood memories there to themselves. Their fingers were intertwined awkwardly yet perfectly at the same time. It seemed that they were really growing to love this whole being a couple thing after all.

"Chuck?"

"Hmm?" He caught her eye with that piercing gaze of his.

Blair had to catch her breath for a second. She truly loved when he stared at her that way. She tried to be light with her words. "You know, I must say I'm actually quite excited about tomorrow."

"Oh?" Chuck smirked, slipping his arm through hers. "Would it have anything to do with the fact that we'll be taking off for Tuscany tomorrow?" He chuckled at Blair, who had gaped in response.

Eventually she smirked back, amused. "Perhaps. It certainly does add a lovely appeal to it all."

"Ah, I should have suspected that." Chuck led her in the direction of the exit without letting his smirk disappear.

"What can I say?" Blair shrugged, trying to act indifferent. Even though it was the complete opposite of how she felt. She was enjoying teasing him around about this. "Italy's a beautiful country. Going there isn't really a chance to pass up."

"Oh really?" Chuck's eyebrow rose. "Anything else that makes this trip appealing to you?" He seem entertained with the banter as well.

Blair sighed dramatically. "Well, good company's always a plus too," she stated as if waving it off. Still, that smile of hers had slowly started to creep out. It had been briefly but Chuck had still managed to see a glimpse of it.

"Of course it is," Chuck replied. He then stopped walking, causing Blair to as well. He made it so that she was facing him. "So," he began with his hands making their way up her arms, "in the mood to get out of here yet?"

In response, Blair gave a nod. With that, the pair headed back to Chuck's waiting limo.

Chuck gave Blair a ride to her penthouse, which she had invited him into. Of course he couldn't turn her offer down. He was finding himself not wanting to be away from her. The way he had been the first time around with her.

Blair went for the bed the second that the two of them had entered her bedroom. "Ugh, I'm exhausted from all the walking." She looked up from her spot at Chuck, who was smirking as usual. Blair gave him a death glare. "What are you smirking about? I blame you for making me go to Central Park." She huffed. "My feet hurt now!"

"Ah, if I remember right you asked if we could stay there longer than I intended us to." He sat on the bed, squeezing one of Blair's thighs to calm her down. Chuck then went for her feet to get those ridiculous heels off so that he could rub them properly.

Blair gave a content sigh, letting him know she wasn't going to fight with him about this any longer. He continued with his actions as his eyes spotted a familar object sitting on top of one of Blair's dressers. He gulped at the sight, stopping his rubbing of his girlfriend's feet in the process.

"Chuck?" Turning his focus back to Blair, Chuck caught her brown doe eyes that were widened, showing him that she was concerned. She sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yes?" Chuck answered, trying to pull his face back into a smile but struggled. He could see that she knew something was wrong.

Shit.

"Are you okay?" Blair asked him. "What were you looking at?" She looked in the direction that Chuck had been before she had gotten his attention. What she saw caused a frown to appear on her face. "Oh."

"Yeah."

Blair's eyebrows furrowed as she laid back down. "How did you know about-?"

"About the scrapbook?" Chuck laid down besides her. He looked down at his hand that was now stroking hers. "I've seen it before it, remember?"

"Right." Blair felt a tug at her heart telling her that if they continued on with this conversation it might not end well. She was about to say something to lighten the mood but Chuck spoke first.

"I know I already asked you this, and that you said that you didn't, but I just..." Chuck took a deep breath. "You don't...?" he drifted off, somewhat terrified of her answer. What was he suddenly being so insecure, damn it?

"No." He felt a sense of relief wash over him. Blair curled into Chuck as he wrapped his arm around her waist tightly. "I mean, he dumped me without a second thought for something that was just as, if not less, awful than what he did to me." She lowered her eyes as she continued on. "And I haven't fought for him since. That has to count for something, right?" As she looked back up at him, a faint smile appeared.

In that moment, Chuck felt conflicted. The insecure side of him seemed doubtful that she was telling the truth, but there was another part of him that felt quite pleased with her words. "Perhaps," was all he could manage as a response. He stared at Blair with a hopeful gaze. "Waldorf?"

"Yes?" she whispered.

"Come here," he growled.

With that, Chuck kissed her making her forget completely about their conversation. About Nate, the past. There was only them. They could talk later, he decided. "You... are... so... fucking beautiful," he told her in between kisses. "You know that?"

"Mhmm," Blair purred against his lips.

A phone rang at that moment busting their little bubble. It was Blair's cell. She'd gotten a text from the girls.

"Ah," Blair began as she sat back in her spot next. "It seems that the minions want to have a girls night out tonight. I'm sure it has to do with the fact that I'll be in Europe all summer. Must be trying to make sure that they're in my good graces before I leave." She added with a haughty smirk, "After the whole Little J fiasco and all."

Chuck gave out a chuckle. He pressed his lips against her ear as he whispered, "They're nothing without their queen."

Blair rolled her eyes. "Sounds like someone else is sucking up today."

"No." Chuck cupped her cheek. "Just simply stating a fact." He placed a few kisses along her jaw line. "You know it's true."

"Aww, flattery," she replied, playfully. "How lovely."

Chuck smirked. "Anytime."

"Of course." Blair smiled, enjoying the banter as always. She then pouted when she checked the time.

Ugh.

"Ah, time for Queen B to get ready to meet with her followers already, huh?" Chuck asked in slight disappointment.

Blair bit her lip, thinking about whether to answer or not. "Well..."

Luckily, Chuck cut her off. "Don't worry, I'll be on my way." He smiled over at her. "But first..." He captured her lips for a moment. "Have fun, Waldorf." He made his way towards the door. "See you in the morning."

"Bye, Bass."

A couple of hours later, Blair was at Butter with Isabel, Penelope, Hazel and also Nelly Yuki, who Blair had decided to invite since she was starting to become a good friend these days. Only as she sat with her 'friends', she seemed distracted. To be honest, she wasn't really enjoying herself. It could have been because deep down she was furious with half of the girls there.

"Blair, are you alright?" Penelope asked, quirking her eyebrow.

Blair snapped. "I'm perfectly fine." She pouted, annoyed with having to be stuck with two girls that both basically called her a slut straight to her face right before she'd been claimed as 'dethroned'. But she was rightfully Queen again so she had to suck it up. She was not going to let them know that she was still quite edgy about it.

"Thank you for inviting me, Blair," Nelly said, trying to make the situation less awkward. It hadn't totally helped but it was still a nice gesture nonetheless.

"No problem." Blair sweetly smile at the girl for a moment, then went back to scowling in Penelope and Hazel's direction. She felt as though she was going to need a cocktail (possibly more than one) to get through tonight. Penelope's following question proved that.

"So, how are things with Chuck?" She pressed on even though Blair glared at her words. "You are with him, aren't you? I mean, the two of you were on Gossip Girl twice." She ended with an evil smirk.

Blair narrowed her eyes. "Yes, I am." She scoffed. "Not that it's any of your business."

"Right. Well, I wish the two all the best." Blair had heard the cattiness in Penelope's voice.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

Penelope shrugged. "Nothing."

"She just means that," Hazel joining in the conversation, "is Chuck really the type of of guy you expect to actually stay in a relationship?"

Blair continued to scowl in digust. "Yes. I. Do." she replied through gritted teeth. She got up from her seat. "Now, who wants to join me over at the bar?" Both Isabel and Nelly stood up. To Penelope and Hazel, who still sat, Blair said with a shrug. "You two can come along if you want." She walked away, not wanting to wait for them. It was her form of a challenge. To see if they dared to follow.

It seems the girls weren't too intimidated; both of them had gotten up.

"I give it another week," Penelope muttered. "Tops."

Hazel giggled, nodding. "Totally."

It had only been half an hour until she had finally had it with Penny & Hazel. Irked by the situation with the two, Blair had left Butter early. She went home, not quite sure what to do with herself now. She knew that she wasn't in the mood to sleep yet. She grabbed for her phone, deciding to call Serena. It went straight to voicemail.

Ugh, Serena! Pick up!

Blair gave up after calling three times. Clearly she was occupied with something. Hopefully not still grieving over Humphrey and was spending time with Eric or something. It would be good for her.

After five minutes of debating over it, Blair dialed the only other person she felt like talking to at the moment. The call was answered at the first ring. "Well, that certainly didn't take too long." He was clearly smirking on the other line.

Blair groaned, not wanting to play games at the moment for once. "Chuck..." She was so not in the mood for this.

"What happened?" Chuck asked, geniunely concerned. She found it to be sweet.

"Not much," she breathed. "Some of the girls were quite..." She had to think of the proper word to describe how it had been for a moment. "Infuriating, to say the least," she decided to go with. She sat down on her bed, taking her heels off. "But I'm fine now. Though I do have to say some of the things they said left me uneasy."

"Is that so?" Chuck sounded a little pissed off. He must have had some idea what happened. Or he was just really in the mood for some plotting. Either way, Blair appreciated his reaction.

"Yes." Blair laid down, wanting to relax after what had happened. She coyly added, "But I do have a feeling that if a certain person was here with me I'd feel better..."

Chuck seemed to perk up at that. He cleared his throat, trying to regain some control of himself perhaps. "Oh really?"

Blair smirked. "Mm-hmm." She lowered her voice. "I want you."

"Are you... in bed right now?" It was quite obvious that Chuck was turned on by all of this.

"Yes." Blair heard him let out a breath he had been holding. She could tell he was waiting for an invitation since she made it pretty clear that she expected him to arrive there soon. "Come over."

"Done." And with that, he hung up and left the Palace.

As soon as the elevator door opened, Chuck hurried in the direction of the stairs. He slowed down when he saw Blair walking down them in a lacy black nightgown. She looked simply breathtaking. "Waldorf..." he drawled out.

"Yes?" Blair smugly grinned down at him as she stood on the last step. She put her hands on her hips. "Like what you see, Bass?"

Chuck gave a nod with his lust-filled eyes staring at all of her in admiration. "Very much so." He pulled her down so that she was on the same level as he was so that he could kiss her passionately on the lips. "Want me to show you just how much?" he whispered in her ear.

"Yes," she answered, breathless.

The pair quickly made their way to the bedroom. Chuck laid Blair gently on the bed, burying his hands into her hair. He caressed every part of her that he could reach without actually taking the nightgown off.

Blair seemed to notice his gentle behavior. She pouted up at him. "Are you trying to take it slow with me again?" she teased.

"Maybe a little," he admitted. Had he really been that obvious? God, she really knew him as well as he knew her.

"Don't." Blair pulled him closer to her, roughly. "I don't want you to, remember?" She tugged at his ear with her teeth. "I want you."

Chuck sighed, with a grin. "As you wish, Waldorf." He went back to kissing her when a sudden thought came to him. A game began to form in his head. He pulled away slightly, looking into her eyes.

"Chuck?" Blair said, confused. He could tell she was getting insecure. He couldn't let that happen so he asked her the question that had come to him. She'd think he had lost his mind. Maybe he had.

"What if we did take it slow?"

Blair cocked her head with widened eyes. "What? It's a little too late for that, don't you think...?" She had a point. They'd had plenty of sex by now, after all. But that's not what he had meant.

Chuckling, Chuck shook his head. "No, I know that. I just meant, what if we did..." He trailed his sentence off, hoping Blair would get the rules of his game.

She seemed to have caught on eventually. "Eveything but?" she finished for him.

"Exactly."

"But-"

"Yes, Blair?"

Blair raised her eyebrows, doubtful. "You think you can actually do that?" Once again, she had a good point. But when it came to games, Chuck Bass didn't go down easily.

Chuck smirked, giving a shrug. "I'm game if you are." He tried to appeared casual about it. Like he always turned down actual sex even though he could get it if he wanted.

That's when he saw Blair realize that he was challenging her. That there was no way she was going to let him win and let him see how much she just wanted to have sex with him right now. He could tell just by looking at her but he didn't say anything. He waited expectantly for her answer.

"Okay."

About ten minutes or so after they had tired each other out, Chuck was still lying in the bed awake. He couldn't pull his eyes away from the goddess that was there beside him. At least to him she was a goddess, and that was all that mattered. She really was beautiful. He had never been lying to her whenever he told her that.

And he didn't say it just because he loved her either. It was just a fact that he felt needed to be told because it was true.

Chuck stroked a hair away out of Blair's face and tucked it behind her ear. He then kissed her forehead, watching her sleep peacefully.

He wondered to himself if this was what it would be like in Tuscany with Blair. If so, he certainly wouldn't mind it one bit. He realized that he really had to have fallen hard for her if just seeing her like this was able to put a smile on his face now.

For some reason though, he felt a need to talk to her. About them.

Was he feeling insecure again? Like before when the past & Nate had come back to haunt them briefly? Maybe. He just needed to make sure she knew how he felt.

"Blair, you asleep?" he whispered. Of course he knew she was, but he still hoped she wasn't too much that she'd be angry at him for waking her up while she in deep sleep.

Her eyes opened, abruptly. Blair seemed a tad bit cranky towards him but not furious like he had feared she might be. "Not anymore," she grumbled. She yawned, but eventually smiled slightly. "What is it, Bass?"

"I just..." Chuck sighed. "I just wanted you to know that I don't know what this is exactly since it's only been a week but I..."

"Like it?" Blair answered for him.

"Yeah."

Blair giggled. "As in you like me?" She placed her hand on his cheek. "And like being with me?"

"I..." Chuck struggled with a reply as first, not wanting to be too open. But he decided this wasn't too bad. It could have been a worse question, right? "Yeah, I do."

"Well... I like you, too." She nuzzled his neck as she spoke on. "I have to say, so far being with you is a lot different than I ever could have imagined it would be." She smiled over at him.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Good." Blair stuck her tongue out at him before going back to her previous position. She continued rather teasingly, "You know, you actually make a pretty decent boyfriend, Bass."

Chuck cocked an eyebrow. "Only decent, huh?"

"Well, you're still learning." She laughed. "But don't worry, I promise to teach you well about the art of an relationship while we're in Tuscany."

"Good." Chuck genuinely smiled. "Because I'm not gonna mess this up again." He kissed her hair. "I won't let myself."

"Promise?"

Chuck nodded. "Or at least I'll try not to." He searched for her eyes in the darkness. "I can't say that I won't make mistakes and bad decisions though. At least in the beginning. I'm only human, you know."

"I know," Blair whispered.

"Thanks for understanding." He kissed her lightly on the lips, placing his chip on top of her head.

Blair seemed to ponder to herself. "Hmm."

"What's wrong?" Had he said something to upset her somehow? What could it have possibly been?

"Nothing..." Blair shook her head. "I just can't help wondering how we got here." She motioned her arm between them. "I mean, from sex to... actual feelings being involved. To an us."

Chuck understood what she meant completely. "I don't know either." They both shared a laugh at that. "It just... happened I guess. Some of us acknowledged it sooner than others, but..."

Blair looked guilty at that point. He regretted his choice of words to describe what happened. "Yeah, I just-"

Chuck cut her off, putting his hand up. "Didn't plan for it to happen. I know. Trust me, neither did I." He sighed, collecting his thoughts. Why did it feel like he still had to explain himself for what he did? "Besides, there were moments when I too denied to having feelings for you, remember? So we're pretty much even I'd say."

"Yeah..." Blair yawned again. "We should probably be asleep right now. We've got a big day tomorrow."

"Blair, we're going to Europe tomorrow. You do realize that we could always just sleep on the flight over, right?"

"I know." Chuck could seeing a devilish smile forming on Blair's lips. "I just figured that you'd want to be doing something else instead of that."

"That being?" He knew. He just want to hear her say it out loud so that he could make a pervy comment just to riled her up. He loved the look on her face when she was angry. He found it to be incredibly hot.

Blair nibbled at Chuck's neck before answering, seductively. "Oh, I think you know."

Chuck took this opportunity to joke around with her. She had been asking for it after all. "Ah, so you really want to join the Mile High Club with me after all, huh? You truly are a total vixen, Blair."

Blair's eyes widened as she kicked him under the sheets. "Chuck!" She turned away from him, huffing. "You are so heinous."

"So you're always telling me whenever you get the chance to."

"Because it's true, Basshole!"

"Oh, is that so?"

Blair continued to keep her back to him. "Uh-huh."

"You're gonna pay for that, Waldorf." Chuck kissed the nape of her neck before sucking there. He heard Blair give out a reluctant moan. "You're not so innocent yourself, you know."

Blair turned back towards to him after that. "I know." She pulled his hair, letting him know that he wasn't totally forgiven yet. "I just hide it better."

"Not with me, you don't," he replied, quite assertively. It was true, after all. He knew all about her dark side, and it was a total turn-on, to the say the least.

Chuck gave out a hiss when Blair dug her nails into his back. He really was a masochist. "I figure, why bother trying?" she asked.

Good point.

"Why bother, indeed." He kissed her until Blair gave out another yawn. He laughed. "You really are tired, aren't you?" So much for sex before going to sleep.

Blair shrugged. "What can I say? You tire me out, Bass." She added just so he knew for sure that she was only joking, "In a good way, that is." Was there any other way?

"Glad to hear it." He kissed her once, then pulled her back to how they were before he woke her up. "Goodnight, Blair," he whispered into her ear.

"Goodnight, Chuck."

A/N: Okay, what did you all think? I thought I did pretty decent this chapter, but I'd love to hear what you thought of the chapter! I can't believe that after a little over a whole year that I first posted this fic that I've finally almost finished it. It's kind of sad but also pretty cool. Yay! lol :)

Also, the end part was slightly inspired by a certain part in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" that I found absolutely adorable, even though the scene was WAY shorter than what I wrote in this fic. :)

xoxo, Heather