Looks like Bass and Queen B. won't be the life of Lily's party after all, but they may make a splash in the bedroom. My spies tell me something heated is going on and you know how much I like a good, hot New York day. Poor Vanessa and Nate, though. When will those two kids get it? They may just be sidekicks in someone else's story, or they may be looking for a spin-off. Who else will be tuning in? XOXO, Gossip Girl.

"We need to talk," Blair Waldorf said sternly, taking Chuck Bass' hand without permission and pulling him away.

Vanessa Abrams could only look on, as her "date" got lost in the crowd.

Chuck felt Blair's grip tighten; yet somehow it didn't feel the same as when Vanessa held his hand. With Blair the grip was full of anger, and yet so much passion. Chuck couldn't help but feel slightly aroused as Blair led him up the stairs, away from the crowd and into Serena's room. He loved it when she was forceful.

Closing the door behind them, Blair let go of Chuck's hand and he found himself sitting on the edge of Serena's bed, with Blair standing over him. Her face was flush, her cheeks red, her lips pert and almost in a pout.

"You know, we could have gone to my bedroom," Chuck told her, his smile growing along with the bulge in his pants.

Blair scoffed at the thought. "Don't flatter yourself Chuck. That's not why I'm here," she said peering down at his crotch. "So you can put your friend away."

Chuck looked down as well, but he wasn't embarrassed by her comment.

"Did you think it was going to work?" she began, not able to hold back her feelings, not able to quell the countless screams in her mind.

"What would work?" Chuck asked, slowly taking off his blazer and calmly and carefully laying it next to him on the bed.

"Your little game Chuck," Blair told him, pacing before him, back and forth, her heels clicking on the hardwood again and again.

"Well I do like games," he said cryptically. He was loosening his tie, letting the soft silk move through his fingers as he pulled the knot apart. He placed the tie on top of his blazer, then got to work unbuttoning his shirt.

"I know what you and Vanessa are doing. Trying to make Nate and me jealous. Trying to use that…that…trash to make me feel bad," Blair's voice was rising, the words escaping her lips in a steady stream without breath. She was angry, but as soon as she said the word "trash" she regretted it. Yes, she had used labels before, but after everything she and Vanessa had been through, everything they had shared, she didn't want to label her so harshly. The quick, fleeting thought of remorse surprised her, but Blair pushed on.

"Jealous?" Chuck asked, raising an eyebrow, but Blair was not looking in his direction. She was still pacing, still talking, still feeling uneasy. "Is it even possible to make you jealous?"

"You know it is," Blair said flatly, almost in a whisper. She then lowered her head, painful aware of the hold Chuck had on her.

Raising her head back up and finally turning toward Chuck, Blair was presented with the sight of him, his shirt off, only a thin white undershirt visible. His belt was already undone. He was looking at her recklessly and she knew the thoughts that raced through his mind were unpure. Yet, somehow even in her state of anger she felt her heart race , her palms sweat, and her lips grow dry, calling out to be watered by Chuck's own mouth. Her body was betraying her and she knew it. What was going on?

"What is going on?" Blair asked, taking a step back, trying to put space between herself and his body.

"What do you think is going on?" he said.

"Stop answering a question with a question. And start answering my questions," she responded flustered.

Chuck stood up and walked toward her. Blair froze in place. He reached out for her, his hands running up the length of her bare arms, feeling her skin grow warm beneath his touch. He leaned in close and smelled her hair. Blair faltered, but only for a moment, before pushing him back.

"I can't do this anymore," she said sadly.

"Yes you can," he responded. "You love doing this. It's what you and I were meant to do."

"No," she shook her head. "No. You said you lost me. You said you didn't want me because I was becoming a different person, a worse person."

"Yale, Carter, drinking, destroying," Chuck began to list while walking back toward her. "Yeah, you were different. And now…now you're the Blair I want to…"

"Stop!" Blair shouted. "Just stop."

They both stood still for a moment, but Chuck could not help himself. He reached out for her once more.

"What part of stop don't you get?" Blair asked, swatting his hand away.

"You brought me in here for a reason Blair. I think we both know it wasn't to talk."

"It was to yell at you."

"No it wasn't. You were jealous of Vanessa."

"Please…."

"Jealous that I trusted her enough to plan this scheme with her," he said.

His words caught her and Blair nearly choked on her own intake of breath.

"That's not what this is about," Blair said, but they could both tell her determination was absent from the statement. She had thought for a moment that she was angry because Chuck was playing her yet again, but thinking now standing before him she knew that was nothing new. He was right, the games were a core part of their relationship, and while she hated how long the games tended to last she craved playing with him. She was jealous that Vanessa was now playing with them too. She was heartbroken.

Chuck was counting on it.

"I knew you'd figure it out. Vanessa and I making out in a club, you'd see through that," he said, his hands again finding their way to her arms.

"I was meant to figure it out," Blair said suddenly, realizing what the game really was.

Chuck pulled her closer, their bodies pressing against one another, their lips almost meeting in a kiss. Chuck let his mouth smooth along the line of her jaw, planting the softest kisses up toward her eyes, her lashes fluttering under his touch. She couldn't help but reach around him, placing her hands on his back, her fingers tightly gripping the cotton undershirt, stretching its form. Her waist pressed into him, into his leg, exposing that she was shorter than him, despite her heels. Blair wanted to press into another part of his anatomy, but Chuck moved back and forth around her face kissing her ever so slightly keeping her off kilter.

He let his hands roam down to her lower back, then down further, gripping at her soft skin, trying to somehow tear through the fabric of her dress. Blair began to tug back, pulling and pushing the fabric of his shirt up his back, letting her fingernails run along his skin, forcing him to jump slightly under her ever increasing touch.

The room began to grow hot, the sweat of their bodies, the heat of their respective breaths, filling the area around them. Blair wanted to take off her dress, to let it slid off her form to the floor. She wanted to expose herself to Chuck once more. Yet, something held her back. He hadn't said it yet, those three little words she has craved for so long. He hadn't done anything in fact, to make her believe he felt it. Jenny had said Chuck Bass had been "acting" with Vanessa. Was he acting now?

Before Blair could truly understand what was going on, Chuck's mouth found its way to her neck, where he kissed and licked and nipped at it. Blair sighed into his skin, letting herself go, letting her body fall limp in his arms.

Just as he brought his mouth to hers, his lips mere millimeters away, Serena's bedroom door opened. The room was already cast in sunlight, but somehow the artificial light from the hallway made Blair recoil, trying to hide in Chuck's chest, trying to kept prying eyes at bay.

"God Chuck. You can't leave it in your pants for five minutes," Vanessa said, her voice sounding hurt, sad, insecure. She shook her head in shame and disgust before exiting the room, closing the door behind her.

Chuck pulled away from Blair, but the moment felt stale. She didn't seem to understand what was going on. She thought they were acting. Why was Vanessa upset? Was she upset, but not furious? Where did she stand?

Chuck began re-clothing himself, putting his shirt back on and buttoning it up to the collar. He slipped the blazer back over his shoulders and then stuffed the silk tie in one of the side pockets. He then stalked toward the bedroom door preparing to leave.

"Where are you going?" Blair asked, almost reaching forward to grab him, to stop him.

"After Vanessa," he said calmly, casually.

"What?" Blair let out. She was so confused. "I thought you wanted me?"

"I always want you Blair," he said leaning in toward her, "but I'm with Vanessa now."

Blair laughed, the sound erupting in Chuck's face. "You're lying. I can see it in your eyes. What is this?"

"Why? Does it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts! I mean…." Her voice trailed off as yet another light bulb turned on inside her head. The day had been filled with revelations, and they were all cruel.

Blair looked into Chuck's eyes, her own glazing over with water despite the fact that she tried to hold it all in. Chuck's eyes, on the other hand, were almost smiling at her. God, he could be wicked.

"You should go," he told her flatly, opening the door, "to your boyfriend."

Blair inhaled deeply, blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay.

"You should go to Nate."

Chuck then walked out of the bedroom without looking back. Pacing himself through the crowd, taking more glasses of champagne, making small talk, which he hated, Chuck waited for Blair to reveal herself. He waited to see her walk down those stairs. Waited to see the look on her face as she tried to hide her outrage or her sadness. He waited, but she never came.

"Where's Blair?" Nate said, suddenly standing directly in front of Chuck, his eyes barring down on his friend.

"How should I know? She's not my girlfriend," he responded flippantly.

Nate grabbed the champagne glass from Chuck's hand and placed it on one of the many serving trays that seemed to float about the room. "Cut the crap," he said. "Where is she?"

"Worried?" Chuck asked.

Nate only continued to stare him down. He inwardly hated when their friendship hit rocky patches, as it so often did, but he held firm to the belief that he had chosen correctly. Even though he knew it was a lie, Nate had to pretend that Blair was the perfect fit for him. It wasn't about losing, as it always seemed to be with Chuck, it was simply about keeping promises. Nate had promised to be with Blair, and after hurting Vanessa he was actively trying not to repeat those same mistakes; no matter how much it hurt him to do so.

"Sometimes you really amaze me Chuck," Nate said lowly. Chuck immediately grinned in response, but it quickly faded as Nate continued. "And then sometimes I'm just so used to you being a liar and a cheat that it doesn't faze me at all."

Nate briskly turned and walked away. His words were nothing new, nothing Chuck Bass had not already heard, but they cut deep. He wanted to wash off the feeling and went in search of Vanessa.

Vanessa Abrams was standing outside Lily van der Woodsen's apartment building. The sunny morning had given way to a cloudy afternoon, the wind picking up in all directions. Her loose, up-pinned hair had been blown down, curls wrapping around her face this way and that. Chuck watched from his perch at the magnificent glass doors that led out onto the sidewalk as Vanessa periodically lifted a hand to her hair and brushed it back in one quick stroke. Her actions were useless however, and as she turned to the building in the hopes of letting the wind blow the hair from her face, she caught sight of Chuck strolling out to meet her.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

"No, thank you," she responded, already sensing that Chuck was going to offer her his blazer, as he had his hands on the lapel ready to help guide the piece off.

They stood for a moment in an awkward silence as party guests drifted in and out of the building.

"You did good," he told her, but the statement lacked praise or encouragement. It seemed strange, even to Chuck, to congratulate a woman like Vanessa on her ability to lie. Especially after what Nate had said.

"I know," she told him flatly. "But how did you know? How did you know she would take you up there? How could you have predicted that? I mean, what exactly were we doing up there?"

"Making them jealous," Chuck said, as if the question posed was ridiculous in nature.

"No, Chuck," Vanessa said slowly, sadly, already knowing the answers to her own questions, but hoping Chuck would supply them instead. "We weren't doing anything. You were trying to hurt Blair. And not just to make her jealous, but to actually hurt her."

Chuck opened his mouth in order to defend his actions, but before he had time to react Vanessa was in front of him, her heels helping to bring them face-to-face. For a moment Chuck wondered if she was going to kiss him, but he could see the misery in her eyes and knew it was not meant to be.

"You told me you were finally being honest. I should have known it was all another lie," she continued. "You said you 'liked me', that you liked being with me, but not as much as you liked Blair. If you could do this to her, what does that say about any future with us?"

"What did I do?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"You knew she'd figure us out, she was supposed to. She would come to you all angry, or better yet, begging to have you back, and then you'd rope her in. Right?" Vanessa asked, but she did not wait for a response. "You weren't trying to win her back, you were trying to show her what she had missed out on by picking Nate. You were trying to punish her."

Chuck knew she was right, knew that she saw through him. Lately everyone was able to see through him, and he wondered why. Yet, he could not admit defeat. "Weren't you trying to punish Nate?"

Vanessa lowered her head, the curls gently moving in the wind and brushing the smooth skin of Chuck's right cheek. "This was never about Nate. It was always about you."

She then wrapped her arms around her body, not to keep her warm, but to shield herself from any pain, and gradually walked away. She walked slowly enough so that it would not be hard to follow her, to stop her, to reason with her, but no one did.

Vanessa found herself in the heart of Manhattan, sitting on a bench, eating a salty pretzel. She was people-watching, something that only a few days before she had done. Something she had done, which had allowed Chuck to find her. Part of her being wanted that experience again, wanted him to stroll by and stop and sit for a while. Yet, the other part knew it couldn't and shouldn't be. Instead, she sat, almost motionless, aimlessly picking at her snack with her fingers and imagining a time that would cease to exist. A time where she knew nothing of Chuck Bass and his friends. A time before this all began.

"Now how are you going to get all those good calories if you don't actually eat it?" a familiar voice said, as a warm body sat down next to her. "Ditching the party I see."

"You too, huh?"

"It's not really my scene," he said.

Vanessa laughed.

"Ok, ok. It is my scene, but not today." Nate Archibald slumped down on the bench, his suit wrinkling beneath and behind him. He seemed despondent, but Vanessa still grew happy being with him. There was just something about Nate that made her smile, despite anything he may have done to her.

"Have I apologized?" he asked, looking at her now with hurt and hope in his eyes.

"No," she said seriously. "Not yet."

Nate inhaled deeply, as if preparing to recite a speech he'd memorized or let loose a stream of regretfully thoughts and feelings, but Vanessa cut him off.

"Don't apologize," she said sweetly. "It's not necessary."

"Yes it is. I hurt you…" he began.

"And I lied to you," Vanessa told him. She turned to face him, taking his hands in her own. "You and I are so great together, we really are, but maybe not as lovers." A tear escaped her left eye and began to trail down her lush cheeks, yet she was unsure who she was crying for: Nate, herself, Chuck, or even Blair. It was a mystery. "I wanted to be with you because I thought you were safe, because I craved normalcy, and because I was trying to relive the past. And all of that wasn't fair to you. Blair…she's…"

"Not you," Nate said, letting go of Vanessa's hand to wipe her tear away. "Blair can be many things, many things that I want, but she will never be you," he said forcefully, trying to make her believe in his words. "I want you to know that even if I'm with her, that doesn't mean there didn't exist a time where I was with you, totally with you, falling for you. I want you to know that despite our differences you are amazing Vanessa."

"Amazing?" she repeated, confused. Why did he have to say beautiful, wonderful things now, now that they were over?

"Amazing, but not…" he paused for a minute, not really sure of how to proceed.

"But not as a girlfriend," Vanessa continued.

"Yeah. At least not now."

Things had all happened so fast, Vanessa thought. People falling in and out of relationships; people falling in and out of love. Her own feelings seemingly turned on a dime from the sweet, seemingly sincere rich, boy-next-door to the bad boy of New York's Page Six. How had everything flipped upside down?

No matter the turbulence they faced, Nate still cared for her, Vanessa could see. He still felt something for her, something she couldn't quite place. However, Vanessa knew what it was not.

"You were never in love with me," Vanessa stated. It wasn't a sad fact, and her voice was normal as the words fell from her lips. It was just a fact, like any other. A fact they were both coming to terms with. Not all high school romances are meant to be.

"And you were never in love with me," he said back. They both nodded in agreement.

After taking Vanessa's picked-at pretzel and helping himself to a bite Nate continued. "So then why are you and Chuck trying to make me jealous?"

Vanessa shook her head and sighed. "It's not for you. It's for her."

"I understand that. I mean, I understand why Chuck would be involved in this little charade, but if you don't want me back then what's in it for you?" As soon as the question was released into the atmosphere the answer came into view. "No. No, no, no," he repeated.

"Yes."

"You like Chuck," he said, almost in anguish and disgust. The look on his face spoke volumes.

"Hey, he is your friend," she reminded him.

"Well, that depends on what day of the week it is," he said flatly. "Besides, Chuck loves Blair, he told me once."

"I figured," she said dejectedly.

"Oh God, Vanessa. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that…."

"I know. I know what I got myself into. I get it."

Nate took another bite of the pretzel before throwing the remained of it a few feet in front of them for the waiting, watching birds. He couldn't truly believe Vanessa cared for Chuck, perhaps even loved him given the lengths she'd already gone to help him in his foolish games. Nate wondered how it was that he squandered a girl like Vanessa away and he wondered how a man like Chuck deserved her.

"Then why did you do it?" he asked. "If you knew it wouldn't get you anywhere, why go through with it?"

"Why are you dating Blair, even though you know she loves Chuck?"

Nate had no answer for her. He had no answers at all; helping him to understand the position Vanessa found herself in. Sometimes no answers existed. Sometimes good people made mistakes.

"So what are we going to do?" Nate asked somewhat helplessly.

"I know exactly what I'm going to do."

Chuck sat in the back seat of his car, the driver looking straight ahead, careful not to catch his boss' eye in the rearview mirror. The stereo was on, playing something low, something moody, something sad. Chuck normally preferred silence in the car or hot, sweaty moaning, but for some reason he asked the music be turned up. It soothed him, kept him company when no one else would.

After having driven around his own neighborhood and Central Park, an area Vanessa loved to walk and take pictures in, Chuck and his car were idling only blocks from his home. He had yet to find what he was looking for and was deciding whether or not to go back, wondering if either Vanessa or Blair would be there.

Suddenly, his cell phone vibrated in his pants pocket, pulling him from his own thoughts. For a moment, Chuck held out hope that there would be a comforting voice on the other end. When the screen flashed a Gossip Girl alert, the knowledge that his friends were slowly dwindling in number came into stark view. Regardless, Chuck flipped open his phone and set his sights on a picture of Nate Archibald and Vanessa Abrams, sitting on a park bench together. They were laughing.

The caption read: Is Brooklyn back in the money?