A/N: I wrote this awhile ago…I should have posted it but I think I wanted to put more to the preview. Ah well, here it is. I'm not really interested in starting this up any time soon, but it is in my mind, just so you know. ;)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

Idea 36 – (Chase Me Down, I Won't Catch You) – based off 4x12+ spoilers – mistakes and broken hearts were too familiar to them. It seemed it was finally time to let go. "I loved you with all my heart, Chuck, but maybe we're just not meant to be." CBDLR

….

"Wow. You sound really serious about her," he remarked, continuing to stare at what looked to be his love-struck idiot of a best friend as he poured a scotch from behind the bar. Chuck nodded along, smiling.

"She's fantastic," he said, his voice full of pride and enthusiasm, longing to be with her again soon too it sounded like. "I swear she wants to have sex more than I do." He chuckled, taking a sip of the alcoholic beverage in his hand. Nate's eyes widened briefly in amusement.

"Sounds like a true Chuck Bass original."

"Oh, she is," he said, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he made his way around the bar and walked into the living room. Nate thought he heard a dinging sound in the background, but ignored it due to the fact that his best friend seemed to be maintaining all of his attention. He didn't hear any other sound following – except Chuck's content sigh, that is – so he decided to ignore it.

"You definitely didn't sound this…ecstatic when you brought Eva back with you."

Chuck shook his head and nearly scoffed. "I wasn't Chuck Bass then, Nathaniel. This is the real deal. I haven't felt this way in a long time." He took another sip of his drink and relaxed into the chair. Nate eased himself onto the arm of the long couch.

"The real deal, huh?"

"Mmm."

"So, I take it Blair's completely out of the picture, then?"

Chuck's eyes flashed to his. For a second or two, Nate actually thought the brunette looked furious at him. "She understands." Nate raised his brows in disbelief.

"Really," he said dryly.

"She didn't ask me to wait, Nathaniel. I have every right to be dating other people."

"It doesn't sound like casual dating to me, Chuck. It sounds like it's getting serious." He paused, waiting for his best friend to digest that information, the statement of fact he'd made blatantly clear just now. "Don't you think that's something Blair might want to know?"

It looked like Chuck wanted to say something, but he couldn't form the words, the thoughts. It looked like his head was spinning, like he was confused, torn maybe between the overwhelming lust for Raina and what was supposed to be undying love for Blair. The sound of heels on the marble floor made Nate turn around. She must have been deadly quiet before, wanting to hear the whole conversation. Now she probably wished she hadn't. Never before had Nate seen Blair Waldorf looking so broken. He could have sworn she was shaking.

"Blair," Chuck breathed before he could say a word. Quickly but far too quietly he placed his glass of scotch on the end table beside his chair. He started to rise from his seat but the distance closing between him and Blair seemed to be overwhelming her. She got incredibly tense and Nate found himself feeling very unease. He wanted to keep them apart because Blair looked on the verge of breaking down and actually falling onto the floor. But he knew they should probably talk about how things stood between them. It was always so very complicated when it came to what would be best for Chuck and Blair.

"Blair," Nate finally said, moving faster than Chuck to get to her. He grasped her shoulders and looked into her crestfallen face, her ever darkening deep brown eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked gently, not even bothering to participate in the 'necessities' of small talk. Finally she looked up at him and nodded assuredly at him, trying to ignore the brimming of tears in her eyes, threatening to fall.

"Of course, I'm okay, Nate. Why wouldn't I be?" He nodded once and let his hands drop to his sides. She wiped at her eyes before the threatening tears fell and avoided his gaze momentarily. "I just, uh…have to talk to Chuck about something. So, could you…?" She looked back at him and he understood the notion clearly. He was worried on leaving the two of them alone together, especially that he knew for sure where they both stood now. But she asked him and he would not deny her, not when she was looking so broken before him. He nodded.

"Okay," he said, moving past her towards the elevator. "Call me if you need anything." He barely saw her nod out of the corner of his eye before entering the elevator and having the doors close behind him.

She walked straight across the living room, straight to him still standing stock still in the middle of the living room. Having watched the entire interaction between her and Nate hadn't helped him plan out a proper reaction in the least. He probably looked like a complete idiot still standing there and not saying anything. The truth was that he really hadn't thought about Blair too often since he'd started dating Raina and been around her so much. But it was obvious now that that was his biggest mistake. The last thing he'd ever want to do was hurt Blair Waldorf, whatever she was to him now. Friend, acquaintance, scheming partner, stranger, lover, future wife. Whatever she was, it was a blur to him at the moment.

"So?"

"How much did you hear?" he asked cautiously.

"Enough," she spat. He sighed and slid his hands into his pockets.

"Look, Blair—"

"So it's true?" she asked, her bottom lip quivering as she tried to maintain the furious façade she held tightly in place. He looked from the floor to her demanding, frightened face and didn't know how to respond. His mouth hung open as the wheels in his head turned. The tears in her eyes threatened to destroy him, no matter how much he pushed that crushing thought aside.

"Do you love her?" she asked, a scoff just around the corner as she crossed her arms across her chest and stared him down, unable to maintain eye contact for very long. She didn't want to see the truth in his eyes, if it was something she couldn't bear to hear, let alone accept. When he said nothing for a long time, she sighed deeply, hoping she wouldn't cry. She wiped at her eyes again, just to be sure.

"If two people are meant to be together…they'll find their way back." She slowly looked back into his frozen face. "That's what you said." The tears were finding their way into her voice. It seemed if they could not travel through liquid, they would do so through crackling sound waves. "Did you not think we were…"

"No, Blair, I…" he started walking towards her, desperate now and knowing completely that he'd been too silent before even if he hadn't had the slightest idea what to say to her. He didn't want to lie to her. He truly believed his feelings for Raina were real. He didn't know where that put her.

"Or did you just change your mind when you ran into a supermodel that had no morals and only acted on sex-impulses as you do," she spat. Her emotions were flooding over and the closer he got to her, the farther away she wanted to be. She started backing away. "I don't have time for this. I…I don't need to hear it." She was storming off and he felt like his whole world had just fallen to pieces all around him, broken into a million fragments of shattered glass.

"Blair, wait—"

She stopped suddenly and swirled around in a flurry to face him. He stopped immediately, was well aware of the tears now pouring down her face like a raging river right after the storm. It broke his heart, made him hate he ever felt anything, even if he couldn't help feeling. He hated himself.

"Time and time again, you've told me that the last thing you ever wanted to do was hurt me, that you just want me to be happy."

"I do, Blair." He closed the distance between them and took her hands in his own. "That's all I want."

"Then why do this to me?" she cried, sobbing very suddenly, loudly. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her, but he felt too weak and he knew she'd push him away. "How am I supposed to think you even want me anymore when you're getting so seriously involved with a tramp like her?"

He was offended. He knew where she was coming from, but it still irked him. He dropped her hands. "Raina is not a tramp," he said, as if the suggestion was absolutely ridiculous. She scoffed and backed away.

"And now you're defending her. Great. Just fantastic. She's the girl you always wanted, right?" The sarcasm in her voice was plain as day. "No emotional drama, no love involved. Oh wait, I forgot. You're "falling" for her." She rolled her eyes and turned away, blinking away her tears as best as she could.

"Blair…" his outstretched arm fell to his side as she turned around again. "Don't go."

"And why should I stay?" she dared. She walked back towards him, intent on her purpose. She looked furious and mad as hell, but the fury faded almost instantly to be replaced by a completely heartbroken face with a million tears streaming down it. "It was suppose to be us, Chuck. It was supposed to be us!" She was sobbing loud and hard and he couldn't move a muscle. "You were supposed to wait for me."

He stared at her, feeling helpless. Because he knew she was telling the truth. Barely a month ago he'd fully intended on waiting. She'd been all he wanted, and he was proud of her progression, loved seeing her rise on her way to the top, knowing that they'd be together soon. He knew that he wanted that still. He just couldn't feel it as strongly with Raina fulfilling all his immediate desires in the present. And he knew it was partially because he hadn't let Blair fully get involved. He'd thought it was for the best.

"There's still…"

"Time?" she nearly screeched, baffled by his poor attempt at mending things. "No, Chuck. Not when you're like this." She shook her head. The sobs were impossible to stifle but she knew she had to get away from him. He wasn't even trying to comfort her. He barely spoke at all. She couldn't bear it. When the elevator doors sufficiently closed around her, she heard him call for her once more. She just closed her eyes and lay her head back against the elevator wall. She knew she was very close to crumbling to the ground, but she wouldn't let herself. She would compose herself enough to walk about freely in public without wandering eyes. She would crash and burn at home.

Her hands were shaking as she took out her phone from her purse and tried as hastily as she could to make it to the contacts' list and punch in the number of someone who wasn't busy and would listen to her, who strangely had been listening to her a lot lately. It was weird, but she wasn't about to analyze that situation right now. She was desperate.

The sound of her own ragged breathing was awful. Teamed up with the endless ring tone made matters even worse. He had to pick up. He had to. Finally, someone picked up.

"Dan?"