AN: Oh thank god FF is working again! I was actually going to post this one yesterday for you all, due to the crazy amount of views the last chapter got within 24 hours (seriously thank you SOOO much - I LOVE that you guys are reading this!) but of course Doc Manager wasn't let anyone upload on here until just a few minutes ago.
Blair jolted awake in her bed as she awoke with a fright. Ever since the first week of classes, she had been having old Hollywood nightmares of Chuck chasing after her and this one, while similar in format, ended slightly different. Fortunately, it was almost time for her alarm clock to go off anyway so she decided she might as well just get up and get ready for the day.
She was just about to head downstairs for a quick breakfast on her way out when she rushed past Serena's room and noticed something a bit odd.
"What have we here?" she curiously inquired as she stopped in to investigate. "Bed unslept in... hair in missionary disarray... and yesterday's dress with today's shame all over it."
"No shame – for your information we just stayed up talking all night," Serena quickly corrected her before she could jump to the conclusion she had already landed at.
"Oh," Blair simply responded. "Does this chatty insomniac have a name?"
"Colin - the cab stealer," she admitted.
"Oh, well you sure showed him," Blair stated as she rolled her eyes.
"It turns out, he actually has some redeeming qualities," Serena began to tell her. "He's handsome in an old Hollywood kind of way, he's smart, and even though he's a businessman he's more interested in talking about Lichtenstein and Warhol – which he collects by the way."
"So then what are you doing here?" Blair couldn't help but ask.
"He also collects women which he puts in cabs – a new one every morning," Serena informed her. "And I'm not going to be one of them – I won't be. What's wrong with you? You look exhausted."
"Ugh I had another Chuck nightmare... it was awful! I was in Wait Until Dark and I knew he was there, just lying in wait like in real life but then when he attacked me... he turned into a she," Blair explained.
"Like Chuck in drag or an actual girl?" Serena asked, trying not to laugh at the thought of her step-brother in drag.
"I don't know – I was blind!" Blair exclaimed.
"Well it makes sense that you're dreaming about being attacked, ever since Chuck declared war..." Serena reminded her.
"I guess... but then why a girl? And that hair... so long... and..." Blair paused before completing her sentence as it dawned on her.
Jenny Humphrey... she growled in her mind as she quickly thought of what she needed to do this morning.
"B – can we talk about this on our way to school? Without the cab stealer I have no excuse for being late to a class and I promised the dean that I would be a model student," Serena said as she went to gather up her school stuff.
"Um... I'm gonna meet you there – there's something I need to do first," Blair told her, being vague as she didn't want to let her know what she was really going to go do.
Once she made sure Serena was gone, Blair quickly hailed a cab to Lily's.
"Why hello there," Chuck smirked at a few co-eds in mini-skirts he passed by as he sauntered along the courtyard at Columbia.
"So the campus crusade continues, huh Chuck?" he heard his step-sister remark as she approached him. "Don't you think you've tormented Blair enough these past few weeks?"
"As I've told her, that was just the warm-up and besides... I actually kind of like it here," he casually admitted to her.
"Come on, Chuck – school has never been your thing. We all know you would have never showed up at class back in high school if it wasn't for your infatuation with Blair and the fact that a certain percentage of attendance was required to graduate," Serena pointed out.
"True... however I hear they've gotten someone big to finally replace Martha for the Psychology of Business lecture – apparently he's Fortune 500... I'm curious to meet the man, see what lessons there are to be learned," Chuck told her. "Speaking of lessons... where's Blair? Don't tell me she threw in the towel already."
"She'll be here, Chuck," Serena firmly stated as they approached the lecture hall where several girls in short little badminton uniforms hurried in before them.
"Hm... well if that's the case, I think I'm going to go sit with them," he smiled mischievously as he pointed out a few girls in short little badminton uniforms. "From what I hear, badminton players know how to handle a shuttlecock plus it'll drive Blair mad with jealousy," he smirked as he hurried on in after the girls.
"He really isn't going to give this up," Serena sighed to herself as she shook her head at her step-brother's antics, although she had to admit, she found his persistence at winning back her best friend quite charming, even if his tactics were on the unconventional side of things.
"Hello? Anybody there?" Blair called out as she slowly and quietly entered the Van der Bass/Humphrey penthouse and proceeded down the hall towards Serena's old room. Turning the door knob, she stood face to face with her nightmare.
"Blair... whatever you're about to do, my dad and Lily are going to be home any minute," Jenny warned as Blair continued to step into the room.
"Not to worry, Little J – this is going to be a very short conversation," Blair assured her. "I let you walk away after you whored yourself out to Chuck last spring because I assumed you were smart enough to never come back. I might have been willing to make exceptions for holidays... birthdays... health emergencies of immediate family members... but I don't believe any of those scenarios apply today."
"Blair, I'm just here for one day – I have an interview with Tim Gunn and if everything goes well then he'll write me a recommendation letter for Parsons and I'll be out of your hair," Jenny explained.
"Parsons is still in Manhattan, is it not?" Blair scoffed.
"Lower Manhattan and it's like a hundred blocks from the Upper East Side-"
"Semantics! You were banished!" Blair cried out. "If people think I'm not a woman of my word, then the whole system could break down!"
"Look Blair, I'm not looking to destabilize your social order – you know how much fashion means to me and Parsons is the school for it," Jenny stated.
"I'll call you a car to take you back to Hudson and wait while you pack," Blair declared as she took a seat on the opposite side of the room.
"How about a day pass?" Jenny suggested, desperate to come to some sort of understanding with Blair. "I promise I'll leave directly after my interview and who knows if Tim Gunn is even going to like my work? But either way, I promise I won't set foot in Manhattan for the rest of the year – not even for Christmas."
"A Jenny-free holiday season..." Blair thought for a moment. "It's been on my wishlist for quite some time... okay fine – amnesty until midnight."
"Thank you, Blair," Jenny said as she turned her attention back to her dresses.
"Wait a second – I'm not done. There are terms," Blair was quick to tell her. "See no one, speak to no one and don't step foot outside this apartment except for your interview."
"Fine," Jenny simply replied.
"Goodbye, Little J – I look forward to never seeing you again," Blair told her with a smile before heading on her way. She didn't want to be too late to class if she could help it.
"Hey! You are never going to believe who's back in town," Blair exclaimed as she caught up with Serena outside the lecture hall she had just missed. Although she quickly noticed Serena didn't seem her usual cheerful self. "What's wrong?"
"Our new Psychology of Business professor is Colin – the guy I've been seeing these last few weeks," Serena sadly told her.
"Cab guy? What are the odds?" Blair wondered.
"I can't believe this is happening, B – I'm already on thin ice with the dean... what am I supposed to do?" Serena groaned in frustration.
"Nothing," Blair quickly told her. "You make sure that he knows that there will be no more cuddling or art talk and that you expect to be treated exactly the same as if you two had never met."
"I really like him though..." Serena shyly confessed. "But fine, I'll talk to him," she sighed as she headed off towards her next class.
"Office hours! Not his apartment!" Blair called out after her.
"Bye Chuck..." she heard a girl flirtatiously utter. Blair quickly turned around to see two girls in matching little outfits smiling and waving at none other than the Basstard himself as they all exited the lecture hall Serena was just in.
"Bye ladies," he told the badminton girls he had just sat next to for the past hour with a smirk. As he turned to head off in the opposite direction, he stopped as a certain brunette staring him down caught his attention.
"Did you happen to know that Jenny Humphrey is back on my island?" Blair asked him as she marched right up to him and got straight to the point.
"Oh really? She must have a lot of nerve, considering you banned her from the city," he stated. "If people found out that she defied you-"
"They won't!" Blair cut him off. "And let me remind you – I sent her packing for both our sakes. If it was ever made public that you had a near dangerous liaison with a teenage Brooklynite who also is technically your step-sister you would be socially guillotined!"
"Well then I would be absolutely mad to have anything to do with her return, now would I?" he smirked at her.
"Got your text, B – reporting for duty!" Minion Jessica announced as her, Zoe and Penelope approached.
"Penelope... long time, no see... although it seems you're back to carrying out Queen B's orders once again," Chuck teased her. "Reusing fallen minions, Blair?" he couldn't help but wonder.
"Hello, Chuck," Penelope sighed in annoyance.
"Well after the little stunt she pulled at prom, it's been rather easy getting her to bend to my demands as she tries to work her way back into my good graces," Blair told him before turning her attention to her minions. "I need you three little pigs to huff and puff over to the Van der Woodsen's – you're on stake out. Jenny Humphrey is back," Blair informed them.
"She's violating your order to exile?!" Zoe gasped in disbelief.
"I gave her a day pass but she is not to move one inch outside that building without me knowing – got it?" Blair ordered.
"Nothing could be more entertaining than Bottle Blonde Recon but we're still dying to know why you deported Jenny in the first place," Penelope eagerly inquired.
"Yours is not to wonder why, yours is to do or die – go!" Blair snapped at them as they quickly hurried off. "What can I say? Good minions are hard to come by," she sighed.
"I suppose, however I would keep a tight leash on Penelope if I were you," Chuck stated as they both watched the trio wander out of sight. "See you in class," he smirked at her as he began to walk away, quickly pulling out his phone once he knew she was out of earshot. "Arthur, please pull the car around – it's time to make that stop I requested."
"Hello?" Chuck called out as he entered the Van der Bass/Humphrey penthouse. "Anyone here?"
After a moment of silence and waiting, he saw Dan approaching from the hallway he once shared with Serena.
"What are you doing here, Chuck?" Dan quickly inquired.
"Oh, hey," he started. "I heard Jenny was back – I wanted to speak with her."
"And say what? I'm sorry for taking advantage of you and letting my psycho ex-girlfriend run you out of town?" Dan asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, something like that... except without the sarcasm," Chuck admitted as he walked over to the breakfast bar and began looking through some Bass Industries blueprints that Lily had left out for him.
"Well I think I can deliver that message while you can find the elevator," Dan told him.
"Can't argue with Big Brother now, can I?" he muttered. "I'll just grab these blueprints Lily left for me and let you get back to your Hemingway complex," he informed him. "You know... I almost respect this side to you, Humphrey. Tell Jenny I said hello and that I'm truly sorry for what happened."
With that he gathered up the blueprints, as well as Jenny's portfolio, and made his way towards the elevator. So far, everything was going according to plan.
"Why are you calling me?" Jenny nervously asked as she answered the phone.
"I understand your reluctance to ever speak to me again and I'd rather not bother you anyway, however I was picking up some Bass Industries blueprints earlier and it seems that I mistakenly took your portfolio," Chuck casually told her.
"Chuck, I don't know what type of game you're playing but my interview is in an hour!" Jenny snapped at him. "You have to bring them back right now!"
"Well of course I would, but I'm about to go into a meeting that I can't reschedule," he told her as he began looking through massage oils that his personal masseuse was offering him. "Can you swing by The Empire?"
"No!" Jenny quickly exclaimed. "I'm not supposed to go anywhere but my interview and I definitely can't see you – Blair would burn me alive and then raise me from the dead just to kill me again!"
Chuck couldn't help but chuckle at her comment.
So that's where Blair was this morning... immediately putting a leash on Little J, he grinned to himself. His plan was definitely working as he would kill two birds with one stone.
"You won't have to – I left your portfolio at the front desk with the concierge," he assured her. "Good luck today," he added as he hung up.
"Don't tell me you lost her," Blair quipped as she sat her book down that she was reading in the courtyard between classes and she answered her phone.
"We didn't," Penelope informed her. "She just walked into the The Empire."
"Hold tight while I send you three instructions for the next step," Blair stated as she hung up and quickly dialed another number. "Yes, hello – I need the address for Tim Gunn's studio, please."
She was just rounding the corner with a smile on her face as she figured she was just in time to give Little J her final send off when Dan stopped her outside Tim Gunn's studio.
"Blair... I don't know what you're doing here but whatever it is, it's not going to work because Jenny is already inside," he quickly informed her.
"Oh don't worry – I came for the after party," she grinned devilishly.
Just then, she watched as Jenny exited the building, nearly in tears.
"Blair! How could you?!" Jenny cried the moment she saw her standing there.
"Jenny, wait – what happened?" Dan inquired as he stepped between his sister and Blair.
"She totally humiliated me and destroyed my collection!" Jenny blurted out.
"You broke the terms of our agreement when you made a detour to Chuck's – any place else I may have been willing to let slide, but seeing him is strictly off-limits. You knew better – hope it was worth it," she firmly stated as Dan was left completely baffled. "Here, there's the five o'clock," Blair told her as she handed her a train ticket before marching off, hoping that would be the last time she would ever have to see Jenny Humphrey again.
Spotted: Little J having a fashion emergency. Looks like B drew blood.
Chuck smirked when he read the Gossip Girl blast. He quickly began to dial in order to set the next step of his plan into action.
"Chuck?" Dan answered the call, confused as to why he would be calling Jenny's phone.
"Before you say anything, I'm only calling because I saw Gossip Girl," he quickly explained before Dan could hang up on him. "I wondered if I might be able to offer some assistance."
"Well unless it's a murder-suicide with you and Blair, I think I'll pass," Dan scoffed at his offer.
"So dramatic... have you ever thought of being a writer?" Chuck mocked him. "Tim Gunn is being honored at The Observer's New Yorkers of the Year party tonight at the Boom Boom Room – why don't you two accompany me? I'm sure Jenny can find a quiet moment with Mr. Gunn to plead her case..."
"And why should I actually believe that you're trying to help us here?" Dan couldn't help but wonder.
"Consider it my way of making amends to Jenny," Chuck told him. "Why don't you run it by the brains of the operation? I can't imagine her wanting Blair to win this one..."
After a moment's pause, he heard Dan filling in Jenny about his offer.
"What about dinner with dad?" he heard her ask.
"Tell her I'll leave tickets for the whole family," Chuck spoke before Dan could say anything more. "I look forward to seeing you at the festivities," he said with a smirk as he hung up.
Oh this is going to be good, he thought to himself as he went to go pick out something to wear for tonight.
"Status report!" Blair demanded as Penelope's phone call interrupted her facial.
"Jenny didn't get on the train – she's at The Observer party," Penelope reported. "We followed her here."
"This isn't just belligerency – it's insurgency!" Blair quipped as she sat up, letting the cucumber slices fall from her eyes. "Why would she risk escalating my wrath?!"
"Tim Gunn is here," Penelope informed her.
"Of course – an eleventh hour appeal," Blair remarked, tossing a hand towel at facial expert. "Don't let her out of your sight – I'm on my way."
"Um, Blair... the Boom Boom Room is a private club and we're having trouble getting in – can you help?" Penelope asked.
"Penelope... this isn't congress – accomplish something!" Blair barked as she made her way to her closet to find something suitable to wear.
"Ladies... good to see you," Blair heard a familiar voice in the background before she hung up.
"That Mother-Chucker!" Blair exclaimed into the phone, as she realized it was him. "He's there too? Is he alone or did he bring her himself like he did to the movie premiere last year?" she demanded to know.
"He's not alone, but he's not with her either... looks like a couple of call-girls he probably paid," Penelope announced.
"Regardless... keep an eye on him too," Blair remarked as she began searching for a stunning dress that she knew would capture his attention.
"Move! I have a Humphrey to squash!" Blair announced as she stormed passed her minions and into the Boom Boom Room, almost walking right into Chuck.
"Looking to paint the town red?" he inquired as he stood in her path.
"I don't know what you've heard, but it isn't your concern," she quickly told him as she began to proceed past him, only to stop in her tracks. "Unless... it is," she stated as the realization hit her. "You've been behind this the whole time, haven't you?" she scoffed at him. "You got Jenny the interview with Tim Gunn and made sure that your friend-with-no-benefits would stop by The Empire just to defy me in an attempt to make me jealous, didn't you?"
"And you were, weren't you? Why else would you have your minions sabotage her interview?" he smirked at her.
"Ugh, you are so full of yourself if you really believe my motives were fueled by jealousy," she quipped at him as she lied.
"I told you I wasn't going to stop," he reminded her. "Inviting your old sparring-partner back was just my way of avoiding having to do all the dirty work myself," he grinned. "Little J always had a talent for making your life a living hell..."
"You went too far this time, Chuck," she hissed at him. "Bringing her back puts both our reputations at risk and you know it!"
"And you know I love watching you squirm – the pleasure I get watching you try and deny your true feelings... getting jealous..." he started only to stop. "Besides, I really doubt Jenny will talk – she likes to claim she's above it all but we both know the truth is that Little Humphrey still cares about what people think," he stated just as phone notifications began going off all over the room.
Looks like New York's best kept secret is finally out! Turns out Little J didn't lose her V-card to Damien Dalgaard – she waited and Chucked it to her step-brother. Guess that explains the Humphrey in Hudson! Hell hath no fury like a Waldorf scorned.
"Oh... my... god!" Penelope exclaimed as she finished reading the blast. "Chuck slept with Jenny?!"
"No..." Chuck growled, furious that Jenny would blatantly lie about that. "She tried, but nothing happened."
"It's obviously not true," Blair shouted to those around them, going into defensive mode. "Jenny put out the blast so that she would humiliate us both! I walked in before anything happened, Chuck can confirm it."
"Oh give it up, Blair," Jenny remarked as she came into view. "The big secret is out now and it's not my fault what people automatically assume," she grinned at them before turning away.
Embarrassed and upset, Chuck walked away. His plan to make Blair jealous enough to finally admit her feelings for him was going so well... he could tell that she was close to cracking. Yet he hadn't expected Jenny to announce what happened to the world and then grossly exaggerating their encounter in order to humiliate them both.
"Are you happy now that you've humiliated both of us?" Blair pressed him as she chased after him outside, catching up to him just before he got into his limo.
"Check your own bloody hands, Lady MacBeth – what did you think would happen when you had your minions play Carrie with her dresses?!" Chuck barked back at her.
"First off, I thought it would be fitting for Penelope to get blood red on her hands again," she stated, getting Chuck to crack a slight smile at the memory of prom. "And second of all, I only did it because you lured her back here to torture me!"
"I warned you, Chamberlin was just a warm up-"
"And thanks to your vendetta we both lost and fricking Jenny Humphrey won!" Blair yelled at him.
"Speaking of which... behind you," he told her as he tilted his head in the direction Jenny was approaching from.
"If you've come to gloat, I would relish the moment – it will be fleeting," Blair warned her as she walked towards them.
"You're right, because I'm leaving," Jenny informed them both. "Despite what happened today... I can't beat you because in order to beat you, I'd have to become you and I'm better than that... or at least I want to be," Jenny confessed.
"Nice try, Jenny," Blair scoffed.
"Could have fooled me, considering how much you grossly exaggerated the truth," Chuck added, making sure Dan heard as he joined them.
"Grossly exaggerated? How?" Dan wondered curiously.
"I never slept with her," Chuck confessed. "Despite what she claims."
"We all know you're just scared of us and trying to save face by publicly getting back at us!" Blair called her out.
"Jenny, is this true?" Dan pressed her, wanting desperately to believe that Chuck and Blair were the liars here and not his sister.
"Yes..." she sheepishly admitted to her brother before turning back to Blair and Chuck. "You two... you used to be in love and together you were invincible," she stated. "And obviously there's still something going on as clearly you both brought me here only to further humiliate me and put me in my place. You're not in high school anymore - you two really need to grow up and find a new, less twisted form of foreplay to get the other's attention that doesn't involve victimizing bystanders before you destroy everyone around you. Maybe when that happens I'll consider coming home but for now... goodbye, good riddance, and good luck," she said before she got into a nearby cab with Dan following behind her, leaving Blair standing there speechless and Chuck completely baffled at the fact that Jenny knew what he had been up to.
"Twisted form of foreplay, my ass..." Blair spat as she turned, expecting Chuck's face to have a similar expression. Instead, she noticed the sheepish look he wore when he knew he had been caught red-handed and couldn't talk his way out of something. "Chuck!" she snapped at him as she playfully smacked him in the shoulder with her clutch. "I can't believe you! I'm going home," she declared as she stormed off in the opposite direction.
He's still fighting for you, she couldn't help smiling to herself as her back was turned to him.
And Chuck couldn't help but smirk as he watched the object of his affection walk away. Jenny may have beaten them this evening, however he knew he was winning in the long run.
Blair had just gotten changed for bed and taken her make-up off when there was a gentle knock on her bedroom door. Figuring it was Dorota announcing her nightly departure, she answered it without hesitation.
Much to her surprise, it was Chuck instead.
"Chuck, what are you doing here? I'm really not in the mood for anymore humiliation tonight," she informed him, trying to hide her surprise at his presence while she felt the butterflies inside her start to flutter.
"Jenny was right," he simply stated as he stood there in the doorway, his tie undone as were the top buttons of his shirt. Blair found it a bit odd to see him so casual while out and about, despite finding it incredibly sexy. "If we both keep going, we're just going to pull more innocent people into this battle between us and I care too much about Nathaniel to let that happen... I'm sure you feel the same," he pointed out to her.
"About Serena you mean? Yes..." she sighed as she knew he was right. It was only a matter of time before Serena and Nate got dragged into whatever this game was that Chuck was relentlessly forcing her to play. "What do you suggest?"
"A truce, perhaps?" he merely suggested.
"Why don't you just sky write the word 'double-cross' instead? It would be more subtle," she quipped. There was no way she was going to trust him to back off just like that. With her luck, she'd believe it only for him to come back at her even harder when she wasn't expecting him.
"Look, we can keep blaming each other for what happened that night or we can admit a harder truth – it was no one's fault. It was merely fate... a tragedy," he told her.
"If Serena hadn't kissed Dan... then Nate wouldn't have been at the hospital looking for her... and Jenny wouldn't have come looking for Nate..." Blair thought out loud.
"If Dorota hadn't gone into labor..." Chuck added.
"Maybe everything would be different..." Blair lamented. "But it's not."
"We're holding onto the pain because it's all we have left," Chuck told her, as he was starting to realize that for her, that much was true. "But we don't have to – we have a choice."
Blair thought about what he was saying for a moment before responding.
"Fine," she sighed. "Truce," she agreed as she held out a hand for them to shake on it.
Relieved that she was finally starting to come around, Chuck of course reached forward and shook her hand. As soon as they touched for the first time in months though, Blair gasped. Chuck knew exactly why too as he had felt it also. They would always be magnetic to each other, whether she wanted to admit it or not.
"You can see yourself out," she declared as she quickly pulled her hand away.
"I know the way," he said as she began to close the door. "Goodnight, Blair," he uttered once the door was completely shut, pausing just for a moment before walking towards the stairs.
"Goodnight, Chuck," Blair whispered as she pressed her back against the closed door and slid down to the floor, trying to figure out just what was going on between them, how she really felt about him. She realized she didn't hate him despite the hell he had put her through these past few weeks, but at the same time she knew she could never love him like she once did... or could she?
Was there still a future for them? She was starting to think that maybe she was in denial after all.
AN: So Chuck's plan with Jenny sort of backfired as she turned the tables on them by sending the GG blast about her and Chuck which she exaggerated to make it sound worse than it actually was, however in a way it did work out because it's starting to make Blair realize that she has been denying how she really feels about him.
Stay tuned - having wanted to post this yesterday, I was planning on posting the next chapter with Blair's birthday party (and we all know what that leads to! =D ) tomorrow as a bit of an Easter treat... I just might if I still get a chance =) If not, Happy Easter everyone!