A/N: Wrapping this one up, probably only one-two chapters left. Thanks for reading and for all the reviews, I'm glad you all liked it! This chapter is pretty fluffy and cheesy, but I think N/B deserve a little bit of that sometimes, too. Keep those reviews coming...

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not the books, not the show, not the songs.

Rating: T

Never Tear Us Apart

Chapter 21: I won't cry, I won't waste one single day

I touch you once,

I touch you twice

I won't let go at any price

I need you now like I need you then

You always said we'd still be friends…someday

--OMD

Nate watched as Blair's eyes stared intently at the screen. Some Disney movie played, the main characters somehow all breaking out randomly into song and dancing on a football field. He looked at the other side of him at Yale, who was dancing and singing all the words. A dozen half empty take out containers were strewn all over the coffee table, and the remnants of banana splits were evident on Eleanor's carpet covers (thank god for those). Yale bounced up and down. She was sure a cute kid, Nate thought, she looked just like her sister at that age. Little brown ringlets, a wardrobe of all pink, including the Hello Kitty pajamas she wore now. He could also see her sister's bossiness and aggressiveness through her utter annihilation of him at Wii dance party.

"Come on, Nate, dance with me!" Yale's eyes lit up as she looked at the cutest boy she'd ever seen. Her sister was so lucky.

"Ah, Yale, I'm going to get a stomach cramp from eating and dancing. Maybe later."

"No, now." She tugged at his arm until he reluctantly got up and joined her, twirling her around. He caught Blair's eyes and she smiled at the sight of the two of them dancing. Yale and Nate had gotten on famously, like she knew they would. Blair had not remembered how good Nate was with children. And her little sister was a huge flirt and was growing up so fast. She was ten going on forty, already getting her hair blown out at Fekkai, eating sushi with her friends and their moms at Nobu, dressing in the perfect little Ralph Lauren outfits. She even had her own little boyfriend, Cooper, who was the cutest little thing ever.

"1...2...3...go!" Blair's attention focused back on the two of them dancing, as they lunged for her on the couch, tickling her until she couldn't breathe. She tickled Yale back, and then the two of the them tackled Nate down to the ground. He gasped for air, yelling, "Mercy."

Blair stood up and held out her hand for him, he reached out and pulled her back down, tickling her some more. She laughed and struggled to free herself from his grasp. The two of them lay on the floor, their abdominal muscles aching from laughing so hard. Blair sat up and looked at Yale, who sat on the couch, her eyes looking dreamy.

"Missy, looks like it's time for bed. Oh my god, it's almost midnight. Don't tell Mom, okay?"

"I don't want to. I want to stay up with you and Nate."

"Well, that's too bad, because I'm going to bed soon too, and Nate's gotta go home."

"Aww, let the kid stay up a little bit Blair."

"Yeah, listen to Nate." Yale's eyes brightened.

She gave him a disapproving look which he ignored. "How about a bedtime story."

"She's too old for that, Nate."

"Well, let her be the judge of that. How bout it Yale?" She young girl thought about it for a second. She was too old for bedtime stories, but Nate would be telling it, and she'd get to stay up later, so…

"Yes!"

"Okay, but you gotta go wash up and brush your teeth. We'll meet you in your bedroom in ten minutes."

Yale got settled in underneath her covers, which Blair tucked her into when Nate walked into the room.

"So, Yale what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Anna Wintour."

"You can't be Anna Wintour, technically. But okay…sure, Vogue editor. Didn't you ever want to be a princess?"

"You can't be a princess!"

"I know I can't be a princess, but you're in the Upper East Side, honey, and you can be whatever you want." She raised her eyes at him, "Well, my story is about two princesses, do you still want to hear it?" She nodded eagerly. "Okay then. Once upon a time, there was a magical kingdom called Manhattan. This kingdom was filled with monsters in designer suits and Chanel coats, people from far off lands, and ferocious yellow checkered creatures. In this dreary magical kingdom, there lived two beacons of light, two beautiful princesses, a blonde and a brunette." Yale gave him a crooked smile and a look that spelled out "Duh" all over her face.

He continued, "They were considered the most beautiful women in all the kingdom and they were also smart and funny and incredibly stylish. The Brunette princess was always confident and got whatever she wanted. She always played by all the rules and was straight as an arrow. The Blonde princess was the opposite, always spontaneous and never having a plan. All the lords and dukes adored and suited them, and many of the other maidens and ladies envied them. These two princesses were the best of friends, and really they did everything together. I mean, everything. They told each other all their secrets and their hopes and dreams, and they were like sisters. But…one of the princesses, the blonde one, always seemed to get more attention than the brunette princess, which caused somewhat of a rift between them as they grew older. The brunette had one thing the blonde didn't though, the love of a prince.

See this prince grew up with the two princesses, and he knew them better than anyone else. He loved them both, until one day he realized that he had feelings for the brunette princess. She loved him back with all her heart and he thought they would be together forever." Yale looked at Blair, who smiled wistfully at her. "This somehow did not affect their friendship with the blonde princess. One day, though, the prince started having doubts. He had been with the brunette princess for a long time, but he was scared. She scared him because he loved her, but he wasn't sure he could love her the way she deserved. And he was scared that he would never get to experience anything else. So, like the dumb fellow he was, he let himself fall in love with the blonde princess too, which led to many problems."

"He couldn't be in love with both princesses, who did he pick?" Yale asked earnestly.

"Well, it was very complicated. He didn't mean to be in love with both, it just sort of happened. Anyway, the brunette princess found out about his love for the blonde princess, but she loved him so much that she forgave him once he realized that she, the one with the ever forgiving heart, was the one for him. Unfortunately for him, the blonde princess was still in love with him, and he could not let her go. And thus, the brunette could not forgive him again and she could not wait for him. So, he set off on a journey. For one hundred years, he wandered the seas, stopping in different lands and roaming the deserts and forests of the world. He was cursed by his love for the brunette princess, and that curse prevented him for finding love, even though there were many women who wanted him to love them, he could not love anyone but his princess. He had so much time to think about her that he became obsessed with finding her. So, he returned from his voyage, and sought her out. He followed her to the kingdom of Yale, the place you're named after, and saw his beautiful princess…but she had already fallen for another. Dejected, he left her so that she might find the happiness she deserved, even if it was not with him."

"Why didn't he talk to her?"

"He sought solace in the fact that she was happy, even if it was without him. When you grow up, Yale, you'll understand that sometimes to love someone is to really let them go, and that's what the prince had to do. Infinitely saddened by the loss of his love, he wandered the world once again, trying to find happiness somewhere, so he would not feel so desolate and empty anymore. And incidentally, he ran into Blonde princess, who still loved him even after all that time. But, after spending some time with her, he realized that even she could not fill the emptiness in his heart. And she realized too that she had never been in love with him in the first place, she had only been in love with the notion of him because she so admired and loved her best friend and wanted so much to have what she had…true and perfect love."

"What happened to the blonde princess?"

"She finally was able to let go of the prince and find happiness of her own. And because she knew how much he really loved the brunette, she helped him get back to her, and he was forever indebted to her. Yale, the prince was scared, but this time, he was scared because he was so afraid he had lost his princess. So afraid that he would never be able to tell her how much he loved her. How much he cared about her."

"Did he find her?"

"He did find her. But he actually waited until he made something more of himself, so he had something more to offer her. He returned to Manhattan and found her, and he fell in love with her all over again. There was one little hitch though, she was in love with this great honorable knight. He was able to trick the knight into thinking he was an ally, so he could get close to her. She had changed, but she was so much better this time. She was now kind and sweet, and cared about so many more things in life. She was complex and generous and he knew that he loved her more than anything else in his world and that if she had rejected him, he would not know how to life without her. He professed his love for her even though he was not sure if she loved him back or if she even forgave him for all his past misdeeds."

"Well what happened?" Yale's dazed eyes stared up at him, fighting sleep off.

"He defeated the knight in battle, and thought that was enough, but it wasn't. She loved him, but she could not forgive him for leaving her. And that broke his heart."

"So that's it? He didn't end up with the princess?" Yale murmured through a yawn.

"The story is not over, yet. He loved her, he loves her so much that not being with her was killing him. So, he had to finally give her up and leave her be for good. But before he could leave her again, she found him and professed her love for him. She stopped him just before he set off on another journey, and told him that she forgave him and that she would never love another ever again. And you know how this ends…they lived happily ever after."

Yale's eyes were closing shut and so were Blair's. He smiled at the two and covered Blair with a blanket as well. He turned off the lights, and returned to clean up the living room.

A hour later, Blair walked out of her sister's room, rubbing her eyes. "Sorry, I was really tired."

"That's okay." He poured a glass of wine as a companion for the one he was already drinking and offered it to her. She took it and sat on the couch next to him, tucking her legs under her and gazing into his eyes.

"Thanks for telling her the story. Sounds pretty familiar, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a fairytale."

"It wasn't, but life isn't." He stared into her eyes, trying to remember every speck and flicker.

"Yeah. Was that stuff about following me to Yale true?" she took his hand and patted it softly.

"It was. I went there your second semester, freshman year."

"You should have talked to me. I would've listened."

"I doubt that, you were pretty pissed back then. Anyway, you looked really happy, I didn't want to change that. And anyway, the longer version of the story is much more interesting than it would've been if you had cut me down ten years ago."

"Yeah, sure."

"Well, I guess I should be going. I've got a lot of packing to do before tomorrow."

"Good luck, and be safe out there, okay? Keep in touch when you get back…"

She kissed him on the cheek as he stood outside her door. "Blair, I love you."

"I know."

-----

Nate walked outside of Blair's town home and looked up at the window. The lights turned off, and he knew she would be laying her head down to sleep. He hoped she was dreaming of him. He walked the city of New York, appreciating all the lights and buzz around him. A few weeks ago, he had been on top of the world, and now he was left with nothing.