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Chapter 6

Blair tossed and turned in bed as she tried to force herself to sleep, but she couldn't silence her racing mind. She eventually sat up and pulled out a magazine, hoping some mindless reading would send her to sleep. A gentle knock at the door made her jump.

"Dorota, I'm sleeping!" Blair shouted out. The door opened anyway. "I said, I'm sleeping!" Blair shouted again.

"You don't appear to be asleep." The low rumble of Chuck's voice filled the room.

"Bass. I hope you're here to apologise." Blair slapped the magazine shut and crossed her arms across her chest.

"I came to return your jacket." Chuck held up the item in question then placed it on the end of her bed. "How are you feeling?" Chuck was pleased to see that Blair looked more like her normal self, the bloodshot eyes had disappeared, and she had the usual rosy tint back in her cheeks.

"You could have left my jacket downstairs." Blair stated, deliberately avoiding his question.

"Blair, I'm sorry about what I said. I was just concerned. Are you okay?" Chuck asked again as he remained stood at the end of Blair's bed.

"Wow. I didn't actually think you'd say sorry. You must be feeling pretty guilty, but you can take your concern somewhere else." Blair opened the magazine again and flicked through the pages, avoiding Chuck's gaze.

"Stop avoiding the question, Waldorf." Chuck stepped around the bed so that he was standing in front of Blair. She continued to flick through the pages of the magazine aimlessly.

"I'm fine, Chuck. I'm actually pretty tired so could you leave now." Blair finally replied, still refusing to look at Chuck. Chuck pulled the magazine out of Blair's hands and threw it across the floor.

"Cut the crap. I know you better than you know yourself and what I saw this morning in that bathroom was not the Blair Waldorf that I know. What did Steve do?" Blair stood up and tried to retrieve the discarded magazine but Chuck grabbed her around the waist so she couldn't run off again. Blair tried to pull away, but Chuck pulled her closer to him and gently lifted her chin with his free hand to force her to look at him.

"Chuck, I…" Blair started, but as their eyes met, she couldn't keep the façade up any longer and her eyes began to well up. Chuck moved his hand to gently stroke her cheek and wiped away a stray tear that had started to fall.

"Talk to me, Blair." Chuck whispered.

He could feel her leaning into his embrace as he continued to hold her. Blair was trying to fight back the tears, but they were slowly escaping and tracking down her cheeks. This was the second time in less than 24 hours that he'd seen Blair Waldorf looking vulnerable and it worried him. He desperately wanted her to talk to him but every time she tried to say something, her eyes would well up again and more tears would fall. Chuck exhaled slightly and pulled Blair's head into his chest, stroking his hand through her hair to comfort her. Blair conceded and laced her hands around him, holding on to him as she cried into his shirt.

...

Chuck wasn't sure how long they stood holding onto each other. Blair's sobs had finally stopped but she continued to cling onto him. Chuck stared at the wall in front of him, he was still stroking her hair and he could smell her shampoo every time he inhaled.

After Blair had stormed out of his apartment Chuck phoned Arthur and demanded that he inform him as soon as he dropped Blair at home, so he knew that she was safe. He then called Andrew Tyler for an update on the investigation into Steve's past. There wasn't much to go on. His family were strait-laced, they'd worked hard and built their business up from the ground. Steve had gone to school in Brooklyn, achieved good grades and then he moved to London for four years to study at university. The only information he'd found was that Steve's mother passed away from leukaemia when he was in kindergarten. That's as far as Andrew had got, it turned out to be more challenging to run background checks on someone when they move out of the country. Chuck had offered to pay Andrew double his original fee if he could find anything of interest from his time in London. Andrew had agreed but warned it would take time.

Chuck was brought out of his trance by Blair's voice vibrating into his chest.

"Don't stop." Blair said.

"Hmm?" Chuck replied.

"Stroking my hair. Don't stop." Blair said again. Chuck smiled; he had been so distracted by his earlier conversation with Andrew that he had stopped running his hand through her hair. He buried his face into her hair, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head and continued stroking her hair as she requested. He felt Blair smile against his chest.

"It's getting late. You should get some beauty sleep." Chuck suggested but made no attempt to untangle himself from Blair's arms.

"Will you stay with me?" Chuck was taken aback by her request. It had been several years since he was last in her bedroom, and a few more since he'd last shared a bed with her. Since their on-off relationship had ended during Blair's time in college, their encounters were usually hostile and ended in arguments. The sexual tension had never faded but both accepted that a romantic relationship would be toxic and agreed to put an end to it. There had been the odd occasion, usually after too much champagne, where they nearly took a trip down memory lane but one of them would stop it before it got that far.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Chuck replied.

"We're not having sex, Bass." Blair laughed and finally pulled her head away from his chest so she could look at him. "I just don't want to be on my own tonight. You will remain fully clothed and on top of the covers to avoid any temptation."

"I will stay on two conditions. One, you need to put more clothes on. I have excellent self-control, but I am also a very sexual man, and I can't promise I will be able to control my primitive urges if I know you're lying next to me in that non-existent negligee." Chuck rested his hands on Blair's hips and glanced down the front of her negligee. Blair swatted him away, giggling as she made sure she was appropriately covered.

"What is the second condition?" Blair asked, trying to redirect Chuck's attention back to their conversation and away from his attempts to look at her bare chest.

"Tomorrow you need to tell me what happened." Chuck stated. The smirk on his face disappeared quickly and was replaced by a look of concern. Blair stared at him for a moment. The look in his eyes told her that he wasn't going to let this go, and, if she was being honest, she needed to talk to someone.

"Deal." Blair agreed as she stepped out of Chuck's arms and walked over to her closet to change into some more appropriate clothes. Chuck kicked off his shoes and dropped his jacket onto the back of a chair. He climbed onto Blair's bed and tried not to watch her but temptation got the better of him and he couldn't help but stare as Blair pulled her negligee over her head and dropped it to the floor. His eyes roamed her body as she stood there in just her underwear. "I can feel you watching me, Bass. Turn around."

"You only said we couldn't have sex. You said nothing about looking." Chuck ignored Blair's demand and continued to watch her as she slipped on a shirt and shorts. When she turned round to walk back into the bedroom, he jokingly groaned in displeasure at the change in outfit.

"This was your request, Bass." Blair indicated to the shirt she was now wearing. Chuck could only smirk in response to her quick-witted remark.

Blair moved around to the far side of the bed as Chuck pulled back the covers and motioned for her to climb in next to him. He had stayed on top of the covers as Blair had requested. Blair obliged and smiled as Chuck made sure she was tucked in properly. He let his arm drop to her waist as they stared at each other, neither one saying a word. Blair could feel her heart rate increasing as her gaze flicked between Chuck's eyes and his lips. Chuck tightened his grip on her waist and inched closer to her, as though testing her to see what she would do. Blair didn't move away, and Chuck took this as his invitation to close the gap between them. There were just millimetres between them when he stopped himself and whispered, "you sure about this Waldorf?"

Blair responded by reaching out to grab his shirt and pulled him to her. As their lips met, Chuck couldn't help the groan that escaped. Blair chuckled and laced one hand around his neck, running her fingers through his hair. Chuck pushed the covers off and allowed his hand to roam her body. He was regretting his previous request that she put more clothes on, the extra material was hindering his desires to explore her bare skin. He deepened the kiss, gently biting her lower lip as he rolled her over, so she was lying on her back. He grabbed the bottom of her shirt, pulling it up to reveal her bare stomach and then moved to assault her neck with kisses, focusing on his favourite spot as Blair moaned slightly.

As Chuck's hand travelled back to the shorts she'd inconveniently chosen to wear, he pushed against her hip to try and remove the offending item. Blair suddenly became rigid and shouted out in pain. She pushed him away with force and jumped out of bed, rushing to the bathroom, and locking the door. Chuck laid still for a minute as he tried to work out what had just happened. He adjusted himself, trying to redirect the blood flow that was revealing his desire for Blair that had been left wholly unsatisfied. This had been a mistake. He should have left when she asked him to, but he couldn't help himself. He was drawn to her, like a moth to a flame, and he wanted to protect her. That's what friends do for each other, he told himself, except they'd never really been friends and that was the problem. He contemplated leaving, but the vulnerability he'd seen in Blair's eyes when she broken down in his arms stopped him. She'd promised to talk to him and if he left now, he knew she'd shut him out and refuse to discuss it any further, he couldn't risk that, he needed to know what was going on with her.

To be continued...

I know, I ruined the Blair/Chuck moment, I'm sorry! But her reasons will be revealed in the next chapter!
Reviews much appreciated - let me know your thoughts, comments, feedback, ideas :)