Another huge thank you for all the reviews! Just a bit of a warning for this chapter and beyond, a few people have guessed that Steve isn't a nice guy and we begin to find out more about what happened to Blair now. I don't want to say too much and spoil it but rated T from here.

Chapter 7

Chuck padded across the bedroom and knocked gently on the bathroom door.

"Blair." He spoke softly. "Open the door." He asked and tried to open the door, but it was locked. He then heard Blair sniff and his chest tightened in panic. He began to question himself, had he forced her? No, he'd asked her, and she initiated their kiss. He'd been gentle and taken it slowly, it wasn't like the other women he slept with, he cared for her and wanted to make sure she set the pace.

"Blair, I'm sorry. Did I… Did I hurt you?" He stuttered slightly as he spoke. It wasn't often that Chuck was lost for words, but her reaction was worrying him. Their relationship had always been turbulent and during their many arguments they would hurl insults and abuse at each other on a regular basis, but he had never physical hurt her. Or at least he hadn't until tonight. "Please Blair, I need to know you're okay." He pleaded with her.

"You didn't hurt me." Blair eventually replied but refused to open the door to him. Chuck rested his forehead against the door and frowned.

"Then what just happened?" He asked, wanting an explanation for her unusual behaviour. He heard her exhale slowly before she responded.

"I remembered something, a flashback I think." Chuck could only just hear what Blair was saying but it still didn't make any sense to him.

"A flashback?" Chuck repeated.

"When you touched me. I remembered. It was like I was there." Blair continued.

"Blair, you're not making any sense. Please open the door." Chuck tried the door again, but Blair refused to open it.

"Chuck, there's bruises." Chuck's frown deepened further. He really was clueless as to what she was talking about. It was like she was speaking another language.

"Bruises? Bruises where, Blair?" Chuck questioned her.

"On my hip, my legs, my… my chest." Blair choked out. Chuck's eyes widened in horror, what was she saying? He hadn't touched her chest, at least he couldn't recall touching her chest, how had he hurt her without touching her? Then it dawned on him that he wasn't the one that had hurt her.

"Blair if you don't open this door, I'm going to kick it in." Chuck warned her sternly. He couldn't hear any movement behind the door. "I'm serious, Waldorf." Chuck warned again. Blair knew Chuck well enough to know that he would follow through with his threat. She unlocked the door but didn't open it. Chuck heard the lock click and cautiously turned the handle.

"I'm coming in." He spoke gently as he pushed the door open. Blair was stood in the middle of the bathroom with her back to the mirror, staring at the frosted window. She was still wearing the shirt and shorts, her arms wrapped protectively around her body. Chuck crossed the room in two strides and pulled Blair into his arms as she broke down in his embrace for the second time that evening.

"I need you to show me, Blair." Chuck waited for Blair to calm down before he spoke again. "I need to see what he did to you." Chuck added. Blair looked at him as she registered that he'd understood what she'd been trying to say.

Blair slowly pulled up her shirt and pushed her shorts down off her hip, keeping her eyes firmly locked on Chuck's as she did it. When she stopped her movements, Chuck stepped back slightly so he could look down at her exposed skin. He had to fight back the rising nausea in his stomach as he saw the purple bruises developing across Blair's hip. He instinctively reached out to touch her and she flinched as she felt his fingers on her skin. The earlier events were now starting to make more sense, as he'd tried to remove her shorts he'd pushed on her hip, and he must have pressed on the bruising.

"Show me the others." Chuck looked back at Blair, encouraging her to keep going. He could see the pain in her eyes, and she had tears trickling down her cheeks, but he needed to know everything. Blair turned around slightly so Chuck could see the bruises that were forming across her legs. He cursed himself for not noticing them earlier when he watched her getting changed, he had been so distracted by his lust for her that he hadn't registered the marks. He reached out again to touch her skin and this time she didn't flinch.

Chuck took Blair's hand in his and brought it to his lips. Blair continued to cry silently as she knew what was to come. Chuck nodded at Blair to try and reassure her then brought both hands up to cup her face and wipe away her tears. He leaned in and kissed each cheek, savouring the taste of her salty tears on his lips as he pulled away.

"You do it." Blair muttered. Chuck kissed her cheek once more and slowly lifted her shirt up. Blair turned slightly as he did to indicate where the remaining bruises were. He made sure to protect her modesty as he lifted the shirt up to reveal the third collection of purple marks on her ribs. The other sets of bruises had been nondescript marks but as Chuck moved to touch the bruising on Blair's chest, he felt the anger rising rapidly as he realised the markings made a perfect hand-print. Chuck tried to steady his breathing, but Blair picked up on his angry exhale and looked down to see him tracing the hand-print that now marked her body. Blair hurriedly pulled her shirt back down to cover herself up again. Chuck continued to stare at the shirt for a minute before marching back into the bedroom to pull on his jacket and shoes.

"Chuck! Where are you going!?" Blair shouted as she followed him and tried to grab his hand to stop him from leaving. Chuck shrugged her hand away and finished buttoning up his jacket.

"I'm going to kill him." The anger in Chuck's voice was unlike anything Blair had heard before and then he was gone.

...

"Miss Serena, so sorry to call so late but I didn't know what else to do." Dorota hurriedly pulled Serena out of the elevator as the doors opened into Blair's apartment.

It was after midnight and Dorota was in a night gown. She'd called Serena in a panic, talking about a serious problem with Blair and trying to stop her leaving the apartment. Serena was sure she'd mentioned both Chuck and Steve, but she was talking so quickly that Serena had struggled to understand and concluded that she'd come over straight away. When the elevator doors had opened, Dorota seemed to be standing guard and nearly tripped Serena up in her hurry to drag her into the apartment.

"You called Serena?! Do you want to lose your job!" Blair shouted out to the pair. She was pacing around the apartment wearing a long trench coat and black boots.

After Chuck had stormed out of her bedroom, she'd tried to follow him, but he'd disappeared into the elevator before Blair could catch up. Blair punched the buttons trying in vain to stop the elevator from descending to the ground floor. As she waited for the elevator to come back up, she had desperately dialled Chuck's number, but it rang once then went to voicemail. He was rejecting her calls. Concluding that her only option was to chase after him, Blair grabbed the first coat and suitable pair of shoes she found and called for a car. When Blair had rushed back to the elevator, she found Dorota stood in front of the buttons refusing to let her leave. Blair screamed at her, she even contemplated shoving her out of the way, but she drew the line at physical violence and resorted to trying Chuck's phone again until Serena arrived.

"Miss Blair, I can not let you go out in middle of night in state like this. If you not want to tell me what is wrong then you tell Miss Serena." Dorota stood in front of the elevator buttons and crossed her arms. Serena walked over to Blair and pulled her to the sofa to stop her pacing.

"B, what is going on? I couldn't make sense of what Dorota was telling me on the phone, she mentioned Steve and Chuck! And where are you trying to go?!" Serena asked. The only parts of her frantic phone call with Dorota that she'd understood was that Blair had ended things with Steve, who wasn't happy about it, and then Chuck had arrived to return Blair's jacket but stormed out in a foul mood.

"Dorota should learn to keep her mouth shut." Blair spat back, glaring at Dorota as she spoke. The long-suffering maid merely glared back at her; she'd known Blair long enough to know her aggressive outburst was because she was scared. Dorota concluded it was safe to step down from her guard duties and left Serena and Blair to talk.

"Blair, talk to me." Serena shook Blair's arm gently to get her attention.

"Look S, I don't have time to fill you in on the details. We need to find Chuck, and fast, before he does something stupid." Blair stood up and walked over to the elevator. Serena took hold of her hand to stop her. "Are you coming with me or not?" Blair asked, pulling on Serena's hand to encourage her to join her. Serena wanted to know more, but she knew her best friend, and the look on Blair's face told her that whatever mess Chuck had got himself into, it wasn't going to wait while they played 20 questions.

Blair and Serena hurried into a waiting car and ordered the driver to take them to The Empire as quick as possible. It was approaching 1 a.m and the roads were much quieter, making it easier for the driver to speed through the streets to the hotel. Blair shouted out for Chuck as they entered the penthouse but there was no response. She raced around the apartment but there was no sign of him anywhere. The only sign someone had been in the apartment all day was a smashed mug on the floor. Blair slammed her hand against the table in frustration. Serena tried calling Chuck's phone again, but it went straight to voicemail.

"Have you tried calling Nate?" Serena asked.

"Err, no. We should go to Bass Industries; Chuck might be in his office. I'll call Nate on the way." Blair dialled Nate's number as she pushed Serena back into the elevator. Nate answered Blair's second call, groggy and confused by the late-night call. Blair again refused to divulge any information other than saying Chuck was angry and if they didn't find him soon, he was going to do something stupid. Nate agreed to meet the duo at Bass Industries.

Blair and Serena's car arrived at Chuck's office before Nate. As Blair rushed to the front door she was greeted by Andrew Tyler. Blair looked at him in confusion, she rarely saw him unless Chuck had arranged a meeting, or he had some information to share.

"Miss Waldorf." Andrew greeted her.

"What are you doing here?" Blair questioned as Andrew remained standing in front of the door.

"Miss Waldorf, I think it may be better if you go home." Andrew suggested.

"Is Chuck in there? I need to see him." Blair demanded and tried to reach around Andrew to grab the door handle. Andrew remained where he was, knowing Blair wouldn't be strong enough to manoeuvre him out of her way.

"Please, Miss Waldorf. I don't think that's a good idea."

"Do not tell me what to do. I've had enough of men thinking they can tell me what to do!" Blair screamed at Andrew and thumped him on the chest as she finished speaking. Serena, who had been standing back to give Blair some space, rushed over and pulled Blair off Andrew. Andrew remained ever the professional and didn't even flinch as Blair tried to grab his jacket.

"Blair! This is crazy! Stop it." Serena kept hold of Blair's arms to stop her returning to her attack on Chuck's PI.

"Miss Waldorf, Mr Bass is safe. He's alone in his office." Andrew tried to give Blair some reassurance.

"Is that because he's already achieved his aim of the evening? Or does your private investigating only extend to people 'Mr Bass' pays you to follow?" Blair waggled her fingers in the air as she said 'Mr Bass', her voice dripping with sarcasm. Andrew did not react to Blair's attempts to wind him up.

"Mr Bass went to Steve Carter's apartment, but it was empty. He came straight here after that, demanding I find Steve. He was extremely angry, probably the angriest I've ever seen him. He wouldn't tell me why, but I've known Mr Bass long enough to know that giving him Steve's location would not end well. I refused to give it to him. He smashed up his office then fired me. I've been waiting out here to make sure he doesn't leave." Blair had stopped fighting against Serena's hold on her as she listened to Andrew's speech. She found some comfort in knowing Chuck hadn't found Steve.

"Blair, what does Chuck want with Steve?" Serena asked. The new information was only adding to her confusion rather than answering any of her questions.

"He's threatening to kill him." Nate said as he stepped out of a cab and joined Blair and Serena.

"What?!" Serena exclaimed in shock.

"I've just spoken to him. He won't tell me why, but he wants me to help him find Steve and says he's going to kill him." Nate explained. Blair looked up at the building in front of them. She could see the lights on in Chuck's office and closed her eyes as she tried to decide what to do. "Blair, you need to tell us what's going on." Nate grabbed Blair's arm as he spoke, and Blair jumped at his touch. Nate and Serena exchanged a confused look at Blair's unusual reaction.

"Look, I err… I need to see Chuck first. I'll explain everything later." Blair tried to reassure her friends, but they weren't convinced. Blair turned back to Andrew and pleaded with him again to let her into the building. She agreed to add his number on speed dial and assured him that she would call if anything happened. Andrew finally conceded and opened the door for her.

To be continued...

Please keep the reviews coming, I love hearing what you all think and you're ideas/predictions on what is going to happen next.