"Woah, dude, slow down." Nate laughed as he came up to Chuck, who was still gulping down more alcohol. He didn't want this to be a night to remember.

"What's the point?" Chuck asked dully, putting down his glass. "It's not like the evening is going well."

"Why not? There are tons of girls here, and most of them have packed away a few drinks already." Nate grinned at his friend.

Chuck gazed over to where Blair, Serena and Jenny were hanging out at a table. "Let's just say I'm not in the mood for hunting today."

Nate frowned. "Since when? I swear, Chuck, you get less and less like yourself every day now." Chuck didn't say anything; he just ordered another drink, and got rid of it quickly. He got up, and walked over to the girls' table.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, holding his hand out to Jenny.

"Leave her alone, Chuck." Serena glared at him.

Chuck looked offended. "What? Can't I just share a dance with Little Jenny Humphrey over here? Just one dance; that's all." Jenny looked nervously at the other girls.

"Fine. But we're watching you." Serena eyed Chuck suspiciously as he led Jenny out onto the floor. She could see he'd had quite a few drinks; and a drunken Chuck was a dangerous Chuck. But he only smiled, and moved swiftly across the floor, holding onto Jenny by the shoulder, not the waist like usual.

"Having fun?" he asked Jenny as they moved gracefully across the room. Jenny looked nervous.

"I guess…" she said finally.

"Blair's taken you back?"

"Yeah, I uh, I guess…"

"Don't be scared," Chuck reassured her, noticing how anxious she was. "I don't hold anything against you. We're even."

Jenny relaxed a little, but she still looked uneasy as he dipped her.

When the song was over, Chuck led Jenny back to her table. Blair had started dancing with Nate again, but Serena was still sitting. She eyed Chuck, looking pleased.

"Did I pass the test?" he asked, sitting Jenny back down.

"Surprisingly, you did alright. But luckily for you, the dancing is freestyle. I doubt you could have walked in a straight line, considering all the liquor you've stored away." Chuck narrowed his eyes at her, but smiled.

After Chuck had wandered away, Serena turned to Jenny. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, he was good. Didn't make the slightest move."

"That's strange for him to do. But I guess he's only got his eye on one girl tonight." Jenny looked at Serena suspiciously, but S didn't say any more.

Blair had led Nate off of the dance floor and into a hallway. They were smiling and laughing and kissing.

"This is the most perfect night ever," Blair whispered, pushing back the collar of his suit jacket.

"It certainly is," Nate said as they wandered into an elevator, not parting.

After a steamy make out, they arrived on the sixth floor. They stumbled into the hallway and, still kissing, reached Chuck's suite. Nate opened the door, and they squeezed through, laughing.

Surprised, Chuck rose from the sofa. "Well, well, well," he said, not moving.

Nate and Blair parted, and stared at him. "Chuck," Blair exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" Chuck looked at her skeptically.

"Well, this is my suite, isn't it?" He looked at Nate. "But I see you two need it much more than I do." Giving Blair one heartbroken glance, he left the room.

Blair sighed. "Maybe," she said slowly, running her hands down Nate's chest, "Maybe this isn't the classiest way to do this. I mean, in Chuck's room."

Nate started kissing her neck. "Do you want me to rent our own room, then? Whatever works, right?" He mumbled, slipping his hands around her waist. Blair pushed him away.

"Nate! Maybe tonight isn't the right time."

Nate slipped back over to her, and began again. "The right time for what, losing your virginity? Like it matters."

Blair, shocked, pushed him even harder. "I'll have you know, I've already lost my virginity."

Nate stepped back. Astonished, he said, "What? To who?"

Blair brushed off her dress. "None of your business," she said coldly. "But maybe tonight isn't the right time to do anything, least of all get back together. In fact, I don't think there ever will be a right time to do that. Nate Archibald, we are over. Forever."

B stormed out of the hotel room, leaving a shocked Nate standing in the middle of the suite.

As Blair rounded the corner, she saw Chuck leaning against the wall next to elevator. His hands were in his pockets, and he was looking down at the red carpet below him.

"I'm sorry," Blair said, walking over to him. He looked at her, not saying a word.

"I was so stupid," she continued. "Getting back together with him was a huge mistake."

"Well, letting you get back together with him was a huge mistake on my part." Chuck looked straight ahead. Blair smiled a little.

"You really care about me, don't you?" she said quietly.

Chuck swung his head over to her. "Please. You wish." Blair laughed, thinking of their balcony conversation at her birthday party. She hugged him. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he leaned his head on hers.

Blair looked up at Chuck after a few silent minutes. "Chuck," she said, gazing into his dark brown eyes, "I hope you haven't killed the butterflies."

Smiling, he leaned down and kissed her.

Serena was sitting at her table alone. Blair had gone off with Nate, and Jenny was dancing with another freshman. She sighed, and looked around. Suddenly, she saw the last couple she thought would ever show up.

Dan and Vanessa.

Staring wide-eyed at them, Serena was shocked. How dare they! Serena was pretty sure they weren't even invited.

Seeing S gaping at her, Vanessa dismissed Dan and walked over to Serena. "Well, well, well," Vanessa said in a noticeably fake sweet voice. "I didn't expect you to show up; least of all, dateless." V looked around, pretending to search for Serena's date.

"Well, I didn't expect you to show up either," Serena replied, narrowing her eyes. She so didn't want to do this tonight.

"I couldn't let Dan down," Vanessa said. "I know how much he loves a good old fashioned Upper East Side party." Serena stared at her, a bitter look in her eyes. She knew Vanessa had dragged Dan here, insisting that S wouldn't show up. And of course, the only reason she had done that was to rub Dan in Serena's face.

Serena smiled. "Excuse me," she said sweetly, rising from the table. Vanessa looked after her, amused.

S rushed into the bathroom, getting out her lip gloss. She fixed her makeup and hair to be perfect, and then ran back out. Luckily, Vanessa was still mingling with some of the richer kids. Spotting Dan alone near the entrance to the ballroom, Serena gracefully strode over to him.

"Dan," she said, acting genuinely surprised. "I didn't expect to see you here! I thought you hated these events."

"Uh, hi, Serena. I, uh, I didn't know you were going to be here either."

"Well, you know me," Serena said, beaming. "I can never turn down a good party."

"Um, yeah." Dan looked past her, probably for Vanessa. Realizing small talk wasn't going anywhere, Serena decided to use the direct approach.

"Dan, actually, I wanted to talk to you about us." Dan turned to her quickly, surprised.

"Why? I thought you dumped me. Don't you want nothing to do with me?"

Serena stared at him, confused. "What? I thought you broke up with me."

"How did you get that idea?" Dan was just as bewildered as she was.

"Well, Vanessa came by a while ago and said you were dumping me. She said you realized I wasn't the type of girl you wanted."

"But how can that be? She came by and told me that you were kissing some other guy, and that you realized I wasn't the type of guy you wanted!"

"What? But I didn't say that! And I definitely didn't kiss any other guy!"

"Well, if you didn't break up with me, and I didn't break up with you, then why would Vanessa lie to both of us like that?"

"To split us up, maybe? I mean, she kept going on about how you rejected me for her." Serena looked over to where Vanessa was laughing with another girl from Constance Billiard. Good, Serena thought. She hasn't noticed us yet.

Dan thought for a moment. He ran everything through his mind, and realized what Vanessa had done. "I can't believe she would do that! She knew how much I cared about you. And she just broke us up so she could have me! Who would do that?"

"Vanessa Abrams would do that," Serena sighed.

"I'm so sorry, Serena! I never should have believed her in the first place."

"That's okay. At least we know now, and we'll never let her get in the way of us ever again." Serena smiled at Dan. He smiled back. They hugged, and he kissed her cheek.

"So what do you think we should do?" Dan asked. "Like, should we tell her that we know?"

"Well, she'll suspect something if you just stop being her date for the rest of the night," Serena laughed, adjusting Dan's necktie.

"Hmm. I guess you're right. But I don't feel like getting into a huge feud tonight. To tell you the truth, I've missed you so much that all I want to do is be with you." Dan smiled shyly as Serena looked up at him.

"I feel the same way," she said softly. "I'll tell you what; how about we ditch this place?"

"Do you think Blair would mind?" Dan looked worried.

"Probably not. She knows how much I like you, and besides; I think she's gonna be busy for a while." Dan raised his eyebrows at her, but she didn't go on.

"Well, alright then. Vanessa can just hang out here with Blair's groupies." They both laughed. "We should stop for ice cream. I'm hungry."

"Oh, yes, definitely," Serena said, relieved. "All they have here is salad and sugar-free mints."

Smiling, the two walked outside together, heading for a nearby ice cream parlour. "I've missed you so much," Dan said as they were walking. "You're so much funner than Vanessa." Serena laughed.

"Is 'funner' even a word?" she said, looking at him sceptically.

"Probably not, but it's funner than saying 'more fun'." They both laughed as they continued down the sidewalk.

"I've missed you, too," Serena said after a while. "I definitely didn't enjoy being single, and I couldn't muster up the nerves to ask Cedric out."

Dan smiled. "Well, that's good for me, then," he said. "Because that Cedric really knows how to treat a girl."

Serena laughed and kissed Dan's cheek. Oh, how good it was to have her boyfriend back.

When Nate entered the hallway, it was empty. He could have sworn he heard Blair's voice outside. Forgetting it, Nate entered the elevator. When he reached the ballroom, he spotted Jenny. She had just been dismissed by a handsome 10th grader with whom she had been dancing. Hurrying over to her, Nate pulled J over to a table.

"Have you seen Blair?" he asked.

"No, I thought she was with you. Why?"

"Well, we just broke up."

"That's terrible! What happened?"

"I don't know, Blair got all upset with me. But it's for the best anyway. Besides, I had my eye on someone else." Nate winked at Jenny.

Overcome with emotion, J's heart soared, then sank. Her and Nate? Blair wouldn't allow it. As much as Jenny had always wanted Nate to notice her, she knew them being together would never happen.

"Nate…" Jenny said slowly, getting up from the table. Nate stood up and moved toward her.

"You don't have to say anything," he whispered. He moved closer, leaned down, and kissed her. Jenny struggled, but Nate got a hold of her waist and held her in.

Finally, Jenny was able to push away from him. "Nate!" she said, shocked at what he just did. Before N had another chance to make a move, Jenny grabbed her purse and hurried outside. She hailed a cab and headed straight for home.

Meanwhile, Nate just stood there, confused. Two girls in one night had rejected him? Maybe he was getting rusty.

A girl nearby stopped the video recording on her cell phone. When the clip was saved, she sent it in a text:

Gossip Girl:

Nate & Jenny -poor Blair!

Blair and Chuck had heard Nate coming down the hallway so they had quickly hopped in the elevator and headed to the lobby. Since they didn't want to risk running into anyone they knew, Chuck had rented them another suite. This one had candles and soft, lavender sheets. When Blair entered the room, she smiled and immediately ran over and flopped down on the huge four-poster canopy.

"Isn't this bed perfect?" she said, awed, as she rubbed the velvet on one of the throw pillows.

"Well, I think it'd be much better with a couple of half-naked girls on it," Chuck commented, walking over to the bed. "Or even better, fully naked girls."

Blair rolled her eyes as he sat down beside her. "But you're just as wonderful," Chuck said, smiling.

"Wow, thanks," she said sarcastically. "But seriously, Chuck! Don't you just love this room? It's so romantic."

"I can be romantic," Chuck said, flicking off a lamp nearby. The room dimmed. "If you're into that sort of thing."

Blair laughed. "Thanks for trying."

"You are most certainly welcome," Chuck said. "I don't do this very often, so you're lucky."

"The luckiest girl in the world," Blair said, beaming. "Chuck, I'm so glad you're here to look after me."

"Is that all I am to you? A babysitter?" Chuck flopped down on the bed beside B.

"You know what I mean."

The both smiled at each other. Suddenly, Chuck remembered something.

"Where's your ring?" he asked.

"What ring?"

"The one Nate gave you; the family heirloom one."

"Oh, that ring."

"Didn't you wear it tonight? I thought you would, considering you and Nate were 'back together'."

"I just didn't feel like wearing it."

"Hmm."

"What? Why do you care, anyway?"

"Well, I just thought you would wear it considering how much you love him." Chuck looked at her.

"I don't love him. And I think I knew it all along; maybe that's why wearing the ring didn't feel right."

"Well, I'm glad. I hated seeing you wear that ring."

Blair looked at him, her eyebrows raised. "Were you jealous?"

"Of course not. I just thought the ring was really ugly." Chuck stared straight ahead into the dim room. Blair laughed.

"Right. Sure." Blair shuffled across the bed to lie next to him. She rested her head on his chest. "You are such a jealous boyfriend," she teased, looking up at him.

"Again, you wish." Chuck smiled down at her.

"I sure do."

Blair scooted up and kissed him. Chuck pulled her up on top of him, sliding his hands up the backs of her thighs. Her legs were smooth and warm. Blair pushed back the collar of his jacket, wrapping her hands around his neck.

Never before had Blair felt so good. With Chuck holding her close, she felt safe in his arms. It all felt so right. Blair finally realized that with Nate, she had never had that feeling. That feeling that there was nothing else in the world she could possibly do at that moment than be with him.

Suddenly, Chuck pushed her back a little. "Are you sure you won't regret this later?" he whispered.

"I'll never regret this," she whispered back. And with that, Blair smiled and slipped out of her dress.

The Vintage Ball turned out to be more dramatic than we had expected. Lucky for you, I've got all the deets.

Serena: Back with Dan, happy as ever.

Vanessa: Left all alone at a party she wasn't even invited to.

Nate: Left single and still standing. But we have some news that might soon knock him off his feet.

Jenny: Heading home, torn up with yet another secret.

And as for Blair and Chuck, well, no one knows about them, but we have a few ideas…

xoxo, GOSSIP GIRL