A/N: Wow. Yet another preview. Are you not psyched?!?! Lololol. Please review! ;p

Idea 25 (Dealing Under Pressure) – Chuck left for Monaco when his discovered heart was broken. He brought Nate with him later to mess with Blair, and to lessen the pain when he saw them together. But what if he didn't bring him? What if he stayed there all alone…POST 1x11

His phone had buzzed three times in the last twenty seconds. Now a soft blinking light refused to leave him alone, and he knew unless he buried it in his drawer or under his pillows, it would haunt him during the whole trip.

Monaco, huh? Anything I need to know?

-B

He sighed, stuffing the device under his pillow, satisfied with its new destination. When he closed his eyes he could see the blinking and almost feel the vibrations though. As if that wasn't enough, Blair's echoing laugh and muffled, breathy words whispered against Nate's neck while she struggled to pull him closer…refused to leave him alone.

He flipped over his pillow and rummaged through the pictures on his cell. Blair had wanted – from start to end – for their "relationship" to be kept a secret. She didn't want him to take and pictures of them, especially while they were engaged in…physical activities. But once, afterwards, while she was still sleeping, he muted the sound on his phone and took a picture of her. She looked so angelic, and from that moment on he would always wonder if she was just one feisty goddess. For the life of him, he could not stop staring at the picture. He would have posted it as his background, if Blair didn't take it upon herself to delete when he wasn't looking.

There was a knock on the door and he lazily crawled out of bed and asked who it was, opening the door soon after.

"Room service!" chimed three beautiful blondes that he had called in for nearly twenty minutes earlier. They were appealing to be sure, what he almost always went for: slutty, desperate, and completely easy. He knew, as he always did, that food did not sit beneath the covered platter they held out in front of him. Condoms, wine, props. He shut the door on them and ignored their pouty lips and underdressed forms. Too much make-up. Too little vocabulary. No class. No Blair Waldorf.

He groaned, heading back towards the bed. He looked at it hesitantly, knowing if he sat back on it – or laid on it for that matter, he wouldn't move for the entire day. He looked in the opposite direction and spotted the bar with a bottle of scotch and empty glass sitting beside it. He smirked.

Chuck?

He rolled his eyes, turning his phone off. He still hadn't responded to her message, and he wasn't planning on it anytime soon. The fact that she was continuing to send him texts just irked him further. Didn't she realize this was hard for him?

No. She was convinced he didn't have a heart. And now nothing he did now could prove otherwise. She had Nate and –

Nate.

He could call him, could blackmail her, and at least then he could hold over her head who she'd actually lost her virginity to. It would keep him from seeing the two of them together, all giggly and couple-like. Then he could concoct another plan – a more brilliant one.

The phone was just inches away from his hand. He snatched it up and scrolled down his contacts list, searching for the name of his best friend. He contemplated deleting Blair's name and number all together, even that precious photo he had kept as secret as their affair since its beginning. The very thought gutted his stomach to its core and he dropped the phone accidentally on the floor, recoiling as if burned. He was breathing hard and little beads of sweat warmed his neck at its base. He shook his head, blinked, and poured some scotch into his empty glass. He poured more when it was empty again, and he kept pouring.

He couldn't lose her, and this seemed the only way to keep her. But if he really loved her, like the taunting voice in his head continually shouted at him – even if now it was easier to ignore – he would let her go back to Nate, let them be happy. The bastard had finally gotten his head out of the clouds, and where it belonged, back on his ex-girlfriend's face. If it had stayed there along, he would have never gotten into this mess. Who was he kidding? He was the reason Nate found Blair so irresistible again.

His head crumbled into his hands and his nails pierced the side of his face, angry as hell that he had let it go this far. Chuck Bass didn't love. He didn't have butterflies. And he certainly didn't desire his best friend's girlfriend.

He reached for his phone again and quickly dialed Nate's number. After the brief conversation, and his amazing restraint to go and puke himself as he spoke and listened in on Nate's quickly spoken – thanks to him – details from the night of Cotillion, he found Blair's most recent text and responded.

Not a thing.

A/N: Okay, I totally wanted this to be longer, but I was grasping at straws. I always try to make these previews generally be what the first chapter is when I start the story, and I just…I feel like there would not be much more. XD I know it looks like Chuck called Nate to invite him to Monaco to Christmas, but it'll be different when the story actually gets started. ;p Please review! I hope it wasn't too out of character…*worried* I know Chuck's first instinct at this point in the show is revenge to cover up his hurt. Heh.