Thanks for the reviews and to all of you who are still reading, it means a lot! Because this story is set several years after they all left college, I've made a few changes to their homes - Blair has an office in her's because I reckon that's what she would have done after taking over Waldorf Designs (and it works well with my writing haha!)

Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Chuck woke up early the next morning. Serena had stayed in the spare room and Chuck had told her he would sleep on the sofa downstairs, but he sneaked into Blair's room after Serena had gone to bed and slept on the floor. He wanted Blair to know he was there if she woke up in the middle of the night after another nightmare. Luckily, she slept through the night, undisturbed, which Chuck was grateful for, but his back was screaming in pain from sleeping on the hard floor.

Chuck slipped out of Blair's room and headed for the kitchen. He met Dorota in the hallway and she greeted him with another wide grin. Chuck realised she must not have been told what had happened to Blair, she was too cheerful and reading too much into the meaning of Chuck's presence. He contemplated saying something but he wasn't sure if Blair wanted her to know so he kept quiet. He smiled back at her and accepted her offer of breakfast, he requested double portions, he'd not finished a full meal in nearly two days, and he was starving.

Chuck was finishing his breakfast when his phone rang out.

"Andrew, what have you got for me?" It was his private investigator and Chuck hoped he was phoning with an update on his investigation into Steve.

"Mister Bass, I have a few updates for you. Some of this is quite sensitive information, are you alone?" Chuck informed him that he was, for the time-being, and instructed him to continue. "Well, I've managed to track down some information on Steve's time in London. About 18 months after he moved to London, a girl accused Steve of groping her in a club, she initially wanted to press charges but dropped it all after a couple of weeks. A year later, he was cautioned for criminal damage. He trashed the communal area of his university accommodation after a girlfriend dumped him. He played the distraught boyfriend card and the police let him off with a warning, so it never appeared on his record. And there's something else…" Andrew paused to gather his thoughts.

"Go on." Chuck said.

"I've looked into Steve's movements prior to the charity event, like you asked. Prior to meeting Miss Waldorf at her apartment that night, he stops off in Midtown Manhattan and meets with a drug dealer. I'm working on tracking down the dealer now to find out what he bought."

"Thanks Andrew. If you track the dealer down, don't speak to him yet. There's the possibility that the police are getting involved in this and I don't want to be accused of tampering with the evidence. Send me everything you have so far." Chuck didn't think he could dislike Steve anymore, but this new information proved him wrong. Chuck thanked Dorota for the breakfast and asked her to let Blair know that he had gone to his office to get some urgent work done but he would be back after lunch, and she could call him if she needed him. Dorota excitedly nodded and retrieved Chuck's coat from the cupboard.

...

Chuck returned to Blair's apartment after lunch, as promised. Blair and Serena were in Blair's office, working on some designs for Waldorf Designs' next collection.

"Afternoon ladies." Chuck said, as he set down his coat on the back of an empty chair.

"Did you get all your work done?" Blair asked. She was busy directing Serena to drape fabrics over a mannequin, her broken ribs were causing some discomfort and she had struggled to do it herself.

"Yea, all sorted. Did you sleep okay?" Chuck asked. He wasn't sure if Blair knew he'd slept on her floor or if Dorota had divulged that she'd seen him sneaking out of her room in the early hours of the morning.

"Yes, it was like I had a guardian angel watching over me all night. No more nightmares." Blair smirked at Chuck with a glint in her eye. Either she'd seen him or Dorota had blabbed.

"Oh good, well maybe they'll stick around for a while. Just to make sure you don't have any more nightmares." Chuck smirked.

"I've always wanted a guardian angel." Blair grinned.

"Yuck. Can you two stop flirting please!" Serena interjected and pretended to gag as she spoke.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Serena." Blair said, an air of embarrassment in her voice as she returned her attention to the fabrics spread across her desk. Chuck merely raised an eyebrow at Serena and made himself comfortable on the sofa in the corner of the room.

A couple of hours later, Serena decided it was time to go home before Lily began to question what she was up to. Blair thanked her again and escorted her to the elevator, then returned to her office to pack everything up for the day. It had been a welcome distraction to focus on work for several hours, but the lack of sleep was catching up with her again and she was losing concentration.

"Can I help with that?" Chuck offered as he watched Blair trying to fold away the collection of fabrics so they didn't get dirty. She hissed occasionally when she twisted too far and irritated her broken rib.

"You are too heavy handed to be handling expensive fabrics, Bass. Stay well away, thank you." Blair joked.

"You should be resting those ribs. And you've never complained about my hands before, Waldorf. I happen to be an expert at handling priceless items."

Blair rolled her eyes at his obvious innuendo.

"You don't have to stay, you know. I can manage on my own." Blair said. She knew Chuck was staying to keep an eye on her and she guessed he probably had a mountain of work piling up at Bass Industries that was only going to increase the longer he stayed with her.

"I know you can, but I meant what I said earlier, I'm willing to stay around a little longer, just to make sure those nightmares don't return."

Blair grunted in pain again as she tried to lift a particularly heavy roll of fabric and Chuck rushed over to take it out of her hands. She glared at him, trying to indicate that she could manage on her own but he glared back at her and carried the fabric across the room.

"It is nice having company." Blair said, rubbing her aching ribs and secretly thanking Chuck for stepping in to help her. "And it was a nice surprise to wake up in the middle of the night to see you out for the count on my bedroom floor."

So that's how she'd known he'd stayed in her room. "Although you could have just slept on my bed. I can't imagine it was comfortable down there."

"I didn't want to scare you."

"You could never scare me, Chuck." It was a throw away comment and Blair continued to clear away a stack of papers as she spoke, but Chuck paused and smiled to himself.

"Did you make a decision about the police?" Chuck had wanted to ask when he first returned to Blair's apartment, but he saw how relaxed she was as she focused on her work, and he wanted to give her a few hours of relief.

"I think I'm going to press charges." Blair replied, although her voice lacked conviction. She'd been weighing up the options since she'd woken up that morning, she wanted Steve to pay for what he'd done but part of her worried that it would just be her word against his and the terrible statistics around convictions for crimes like this continued to play on her mind. She was also worrying about how it would reflect on her image and the reputation of Waldorf Designs. She'd worked hard to maintain the success of the company after her mother had retired, she feared something like this would reflect badly on the company, especially if Steve was found not guilty.

"You don't sound sure." Chuck acknowledged Blair's hesitation.

"I'm worried no-one will believe me. Then it just comes down to my word against his, and I'm not sure a broken rib and a few bruises will be enough."

Chuck finished putting away the last of the folders that were scattered across Blair's desk then pulled out his own laptop from his bag. Blair frowned at him in confusion.

"There's more evidence than just your injuries." Chuck said.

Blair questioned what Chuck meant by his remark and he filled her in on the information Andrew Tyler had obtained about Steve's time in London. Blair wasn't convinced it would be much help, it was many years ago and the girl who had accused Steve of groping her went on to admit that she was lying.

"There's more, the night of the charity ball Steve met up with some drug dealer before he came to your apartment."

"What?" Blair exclaimed, as far as she knew Steve didn't take drugs. She laughed to herself, who was she kidding, she barely knew the guy, he could have been a daily user and she wouldn't have known. Reflecting on their short-lived romance had shown her that she had missed many of the warning signs that Steve was bad news and his sudden switch from 'Mr Nice Guy' to aggressive psychopath would give Jekyll and Hyde a run for his money.

"I guess if he was high that would explain why he was so angry." Blair concluded.

"I don't think the drugs were for him." Chuck spoke cautiously, he could see that Blair had no idea where this information was leading, and he wanted to guide her there gently.

"If they weren't for him then what… Oh my god." Blair's hand shot up to cover her mouth as she suddenly realised what Chuck was saying.

"When I went into work this morning, I was actually looking through the CCTV footage from that night. I think you need to see this." Chuck said as he opened his laptop and clicked through a few files before selecting one and pressing play on the video.

"This is from the camera behind the bar." Chuck explained.

Blair could see their group at the end of the bar, Chuck was handing her a drink and whispering in her ear. Blair subconsciously touched her neck at the memory of Chuck's breath on her skin. She watched as they finished their conversation and Chuck disappeared into the crowd and off the screen. Blair felt her chest constrict slightly as she watched her argument with Steve play out on the screen.

"Now watch what Steve does." Chuck said, indicating to the image of Steve as he walked off to the bar. Blair remembered this, she was annoyed with Steve, but she was also shocked by her own reaction to the suggestion that there was something going on between her and Chuck. She'd always considered them to be ancient history, but Steve's outburst had made her question whether there was something more to their relationship than just sexual tension and mutual friendship.

Blair did as Chuck instructed and watched Steve. He ordered two drinks from the bar and then Blair gasped as she watched what he did next.

"Did he just…?" She couldn't bring herself to say the words.

"I think he did. Here watch it again." Chuck said and skipped back a few frames so Blair could watch it again.

The video was grainy, and it was difficult to see clearly but Steve looked around the bar then pulled something out of the inside pocket of his jacket and poured it into Blair's drink. Neither Chuck nor Blair said anything as they let the video play on. Steve then handed the drink to Blair and left. Blair's office remained deadly silent as the pair watch Blair knock back her drink in three mouthfuls.

"Oh my god." Blair said as she paused the video. She couldn't face seeing any more at that moment in time. Chuck reached out to take her hand in his.

"He spiked your drink, Blair. That's why you don't remember anything."

To be continued...

So there we go, the reason Blair can't remember anything! I think a few of you had already guessed what Steve had done but now Blair knows. What will she do? I have a few ideas, but I'd love to get your feedback too - hit the review button :)