So here's the next chapter as I promised many of you. One short thing: I have no idea what Blair's name in Dan's novel is so I made one up lol as I've done with pretty much the entire concept. Also don't freak out on me about the Dair interaction, they are JUST friends something I quickly make clear.

To my reviewers: LovelyLydia, Stella296, wrighthangal, Kadlin, Del, CarolinaGirl21, BellaB2010, flipped, LitPrincess2787, LeftWriter224, Chuckandblair, GGfan73104, SoutherBelle88, , GGfanficfan09, and Sw33theart21. You guys are amazing, even though you all have such different opinions about the story and what you want to see happen I've loved each and every one of your reviews!

Thanks to my amazing beta ggff-fan!

Chapter 3: Continued Delusions of the Lovely Bianca Windsor

Blair sighed as she looked down at her phone: seven missed calls and seven corresponding voice mails, one for every day she'd been back in New York. The past week had been one of the most difficult she could remember. She'd known it wasn't going to be easy but she'd had no idea that it would be this hard to get him back.

Chuck wasn't even taking her calls much less seeing her; which is what made the temptation so much stronger to listen to one of Austin's voice mails. She missed him so much it hurt sometimes but she knew better than to crack. If she listened to one of his voice mails she might call him and calling him wouldn't be fair, not after the way she'd left.

Blair packed her things quickly; more quickly than she ever remembered packing before. If she didn't have to have it she left it. If it was something they'd bought together she left it. If it was something he'd given her she left it.

Resting her hand on his Duke sweatshirt that she'd worn around the house earlier that morning as she made breakfast she hesitated. Her fingers traced the fading letters before lightly running along the edge of the sleeve where he'd caught it on her necklace once. It had gradually become more hers over time until one birthday he'd gift wrapped it and given it to her.

Making an almost instinctual move she shoved it down into her bag. She could keep one thing, after all if she'd learned anything the past few months it was that leaving something behind didn't erase it, it simple meant you were running. And this time she wasn't running away from anything she was running towards something, it was okay to take something to remember such a huge part of her life, it was okay to love and remember Austin.

Sitting down at her desk she removed her stationary, freezing for a moment as her pen hovered over the piece of paper. These were some of the most important words she'd ever write, she knew that what she said would break his heart just like it was breaking hers to write them. But even as she struggled to write words that she knew would break Austin, she knew that in the end it was the right thing to do. He deserved someone who loved him like she loved Chuck.

Austin,

I think I miss you already. I'm sure you've just walked into our bedroom and found that I've taken my things and run, though you being you had already realized I left when you saw that my Audrey Hepburn movies weren't under the TV and the jacket i always leave on the hook by the door was gone. You always did notice the smallest things, especially when it came to me. I've always loved that about you.

I want to say that I'm sorry but I'm not. I'm not sorry that I fell in love with you. You are an amazing man that I'm blessed to have had in my life and I never want to forget the way you made me feel – like I was the only girl in the world. I'm also not sorry for leaving. As much as I'd like to be I can't be sorry for going home. It's not just that I'm selfish and running away for my own benefit, it's what's best for you too. You deserve someone who is going to love you with their whole heart, not someone who can't forget about an ex-boyfriend from years ago. You've given me everything and the least I can do is set you free.

What I am sorry for is hurting you. I'm sorry that I waited so long to admit to myself what I was feeling when I should have realized it long before. I'm sorry that I'm losing you as a part of my life because you're the best friend I've ever had. And I'm sorry that you are going to be in pain because of this.

Please don't come looking for me. This is for the best for both of us, even if it doesn't feel like that now. I love you but sometimes love just isn't enough. You didn't do anything wrong, you were perfect. I'm the one that's damaged, I'm missing the part of myself that I gave up when I left New York and because of that I could never deserve you. I wanted to marry you, I did; but if I had I'd always be searching for the part I left with him and that wouldn't be fair to you or me.

Take care of yourself and tell your family that I am so sorry. Goodbye Austin, I love you.

Always,
Blair Waldorf

Reading over the letter carefully, she sighed softly to herself, wiping away one quick tear. She was doing the right thing but it didn't make it any easier. With one soft tug she removed Austin's ring from her finger and placed it on the now sealed envelope containing her letter to Austin which she laid on the pillow of the bed.

"Blair Waldorf? Is that you?"

Blair turned her head around so quickly she might have gotten whiplash, coming to a sudden halt on 5th avenue as she was jerked from her memory by the sight of someone she recognized quite well. "Why, if it isn't Humpty Dumpty, on the northern part of the island no less." She said with a genuine smile though her words sounded snarky.

"And I'd heard you'd taken on the title Wicked Witch of the West permanently now." Dan replied with the same snarky attitude paired with a smile.

Blair's smile widened. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear."

Dan nodded, his hands slipping into his front pockets. "I suppose not, though I also heard you are engaged. Any truth to that?"

Blair scoffed slightly. "I'm not sure where you're getting your news now Humphrey but that's the second time you've been wrong today."

Dan's eyebrows rose. Serena had made him swear not to tell anyone when she'd told him and he hadn't but now he was just confused. "So Serena was mistaken?"

"No." Blair said shaking her head. "I was engaged, I'm just not anymore." She wasn't surprised that Serena had told Dan, she knew they were still close friends. And honestly if she had told anyone else herself it would have been him; they were still friends after all these years.

"I see." Dan said reflexively. He would have asked more but he didn't need to; he knew Blair well enough even now that it just wasn't necessary. If she'd simply broken the engagement she wouldn't be back here, so he quickly deduced the reason she was back in the city. "So how long are you back for? Am I correct in assuming that you'll be here until you win him back?"

Blair smirked. "Sometimes it scares me that a Brooklynite knows me as well as you do."

Dan nodded, that had after all been the answer he'd been expecting. "You're in for a tough fight this time."

"So I've heard." Blair smiled tightly, resisting an eyeroll; but her voice remained certain. "I'm not worried."

"You never were." Dan responded with a nod. They stood there for a moment in comfortable silence before Dan spoke again. "I should get home. You know Steph's at nine months."

Blair shook her head. "I still can't believe you of all people married an Astor."

Dan chuckled; Stephanie worked for a publishing company and had bought his second book, Wishing Wells a follow up to the Insider. They'd fallen in love during the editing process. "Maybe you would if you hadn't missed the wedding."

Blair swallowed tightly. "You know I'm sorry. I wanted to be there it was just too soon. Maybe if he hadn't been in the wedding party . . ." It had been the same summer that they'd run into each other in the Hamptons, she'd had every intention of going to the wedding regardless of the fact that Chuck had been a groomsman but couldn't after what happened that May.

Dan nodded, he didn't blame her and she had apologized so many times. "I suppose that's my own fault for becoming friends with the Basstard."

Blair laughed at his use of the word and couldn't help but think about how hard she'd laughed at his latest book, the one about her. "So I did enjoy the book you sent me a few weeks ago though hiding it from Austin was not so much fun."

Laughing himself, Dan sometimes couldn't believe his third novel. This novel wasn't anything like the Insider or Wishing Wells, his first two novels which were both introspective on his own character as he experienced the world of the UES as only he could. This third novel, while still told by the same narrator, wasn't on his experiences with the main character or his introspective view of her or even her character in an ensemble of others. No, The Life, Lies and Loves of Bianca Windsor was an extrospective view on just Blair.

"What did Steph think?" She asked almost nervously. She couldn't imagine how she'd feel if her husband wrote a book so profoundly studying the life of another woman, a woman he professed in Wishing Wells he'd once thought might be the love of his life and he'd let her go.

Dan laughed again. "Well honestly she loved your character in the first two books; that was her biggest critique of Wishing Wells. She wanted more you and asked why there wasn't. When I told her that you weren't in my life in an immediate way anymore she asked me why I didn't do something about it. My response was . . ."

"Trying to control her is like, trying to control the wind; frustrating, impossible, and ultimately completely self-destructive." Blair completed quoting a line from Wishing Wells. "So that's where that line came from?"

Dan nodded. "That it is."

Blair pursed her lips slightly. She'd wanted to call him the moment she'd read the book but couldn't; her ideas hadn't been formulated enough then and she wasn't sure they were now. She would never say that Humphrey's book was the reason she left Austin; she was already feeling the world crashing down around her with the wedding plans. But she felt like the fact that she wasn't the only one that saw it; that Humphrey had seen it too had pushed her over the edge. "I won't lie, I found the ending to be a surprise. Why am I the one that doesn't get a happy ending?"

Dan frowned slightly, uncertain of the best way to phrase what he wanted to say. He knew he'd have some explaining to do which is why so far the only people who'd read the book were Blair and Steph. "I think it is a happy ending. If at the end of the book Bianca had still been ignorant about her mistakes then it would have been a sad ending; but Bianca finally sees herself for who she truly is and now she has the ability to fix it."

Nodding slowly, Blair found herself agreeing. "You know Bianca was an idiot." Dan laughed as she continued. "But that aside, I have to admit that the ending was literary genius. I mean the whole book was about the guys she'd loved or who'd loved her, the lies she'd told to each and every person she'd ever met with the magnificent charade she put on, and the fabulous life she led that tied it all together. But in the end the biggest lie she ever told was to herself."

Dan nodded as well. "Bianca couldn't see herself for who she really was, in many ways her entire life was a lie and she bought each and every bit of it. It cost her the love of her life."

"She doesn't buy it anymore." Blair spoke, breaking the pretense of talking about Bianca rather than herself. "How did you ever know so much? You hardly missed anything. Things I've never made public knowledge were brought to light flawlessly."

Dan smiled sheepishly. "The stuff you gave me when I started working on Wishing Wells helped and I might have gotten Serena drunk a few - well eighteen, times and picked her brain. Nate was helpful too almost without realizing. But mostly I got it from you." Dan exhaled before meeting her gaze again. "So you're okay with me publishing it?"

Blair nodded. "I'm okay with it. I think it will take some getting used to but I feel as though the people who read it who know it's about me will already know the bad stuff."

Dan smiled again as he brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "You're still the strongest woman I've ever known."

Blair smiled. "I'm glad I ran into you Humphrey."

"You too Waldorf." Dan responded, truthfully. "I hope this relocation of yours works out. I want you to get your happy ending."

Blair nodded. "So do I. I miss New York, I miss this life. I'm tired of feeling like I'm missing out on the lives of my friends. I want to get to know Steph and the baby of course when it comes."

Dan nodded. "You will, I promise. Just stick around and you will." It had taken him until this point of their conversation to realize that as glad as he had been to see her, he really had missed having her as a major part of his life. "I've missed having you in my life Blair."

"I've missed you too Dan." She responded before giving him a quick hug. "Now get home to your wife."

Dan smiled and nodded again. "Good luck with Chuck, I'm worried you're going to need it."

Blair gave a thank you nod before turning at the same time as Dan and walking in opposite directions. It was as she walked that she began to feel the gnawing in her gut again. It had become more and more frequent as of late and she was getting tired of it. Sure Chuck was with someone else and yes it was going to have to work to get him but she'd known that. She was getting so tired of people doubting the fact that she and Chuck were supposed to be together. Exhaling she calmed herself, she just needed to give it some time, then they'd see.

"We haven't been in this room in a while." Nate said with a smile as they walked into what he and Chuck used to call the Bachelor Pad. When they first moved in to the New Yorker and each gotten several rooms to themselves, it had been one of the few that they had completely shared. It was reminiscent of their penthouse at the Empire in some ways, similar layout, the video games, the big screen tv, the bar; almost like a piece of home.

Chuck nodded because he knew Nate was right. Slowly but surely Nate had spent more time with Serena and he'd gotten involved with Gwen and the Bachelor Pad had been left sitting around, collecting dust. "I sometimes forget it's here." He spoke before taking a seat next to Nate on one of the couches.

Chuck inhaled deeply before speaking. "Gwen gets home tomorrow."

Nate nodded. "Have you decided what you're going to tell her about Blair? Because we know Blair's going to make her presence known sooner rather than later."

Chuck exhaled heavily. "I honestly don't know. The truth I guess."

Nate's eyes widened. "So you're going to tell Gwen that the girl you once professed to be the love of your life repeatedly, who stood by you through all that shit senior year, the girl who helped you cope with your dad's death, the one who came back to you after you traded her to your uncle for a hotel and again after you slept with someone else, who gave up becoming a princess for you, before running away crushing your heart and devouring your soul is in town with the sole purpose of getting you back." He paused for breath, " I'm sure that will roll right off the tongue."

"Not holding anything back are you Nathaniel?" Chuck asked, his voice betraying the shock he'd felt at Nate's words. When Nate just stared at him pointedly, Chuck sighed. "So maybe not the whole truth. I guess that we were once involved but it's over."

Nate almost laughed. "Please tell me you remember what Blair did to Eva? She'll go after Gwen with everything she has."

Chuck shook his head. "I don't think so Nathaniel; things are different this time. Besides, Gwen can certainly hold her own."

Nodding, Nate absorbed what Chuck was saying. Everyone kept telling him how different Blair was, how different the situation was but he just wasn't believing it yet. Not until he spoke to her. And he certainly wasn't believing that Chuck was over her until he saw them together.

"What is it Nathaniel?" Chuck asked, seeing that his best friend was struggling with words and knowing well enough to dig deeper or else he was only going to skim the surface of what Nate was thinking.

Nate exhaled slowly his brows still furrowed as he tried to figure out how to say just what he wanted to say. "I guess . . . I still don't think it's as simple as you think it is. This isn't just some girl that we're talking about, it's Blair."

Shaking his head, Chuck straightened his spine. There were things Nate didn't know, things Nate had never known about his and Blair's relationship. He hadn't known that Blair left in the middle of the night without a word and he didn't know about what happened in the Hamptons that summer. He didn't understand and Chuck wasn't willing to force him to. "It's just different. We're different people and honestly I don't feel that way anymore."

Nate shook his head matching Chuck's stance as he leaned a bit forward. "I'm not buying it. None of that has ever mattered before. And you said yourself yesterday that you felt aroused seeing her; the passion's still there and I know the two of you, you can't fight it, you've never been able to fight it."

Sighing heavily Chuck didn't know what to say, didn't know how to make Nathaniel understand. "This isn't like before." He started, voice low. "Blair destroyed me when she left," He was referring to that night in the Hamptons not the first time but as Nate didn't know about that night and Chuck didn't plan on telling him. Each word he did speak was slow and measured as though he were almost having trouble forming them. "She ripped my heart out and it took me years to move past it, years to get over what she'd done. If not for Gwen I don't know that I ever would have. I don't love Blair anymore; not in the way I used to love her."

Swallowing, Nate met Chuck's gaze, there was such sincere honesty in his friend's eyes that he knew that Chuck believed every word. Slowly Nate nodded. "Okay." He spoke finally. "Okay."

It was a few hours and several video games later that Chuck had had to leave to do business and a few hours after that before a member of the staff stuck their head in the door. "Mr. Archibald."

Nate's head snapped upwards in surprise. The staff rarely came to the rooms, only when they had a guest they weren't expecting and that never happened. "Yes?" He asked curiously.

"You have a visitor." The maid spoke softly.

Nate knew who it was without having to ask. It was a strange kind of recognition that seemed to jolt him from his core. "Send her in." He spoke unable to hide the excitement. He wanted to see how different she was, but more than that he'd missed his friend. Scrambling to his feet, he then tried to assume a relaxed position, crossing and uncrossing his arms a couple of times in an effort to control his nervous excitement.

Blair exhaled soundly as she stepped directly in front of Nate's door. She was excited to see Nate but at the same time she wasn't sure what to expect. Nate could potentially be angry at her - she hadn't done the greatest job keeping in touch - not to mention if Chuck had confided in him then Nate might have other reasons to be angry with her. But she was confident that he was still Nate and he would still be her friend no matter what had happened. With that in mind she stepped past the maid and through the door.

The moment he caught sight of her Nate couldn't help but smile. She and Serena were as different as day and night - Serena was all sunshine and happiness but Blair's darker beauty was still a sight to behold and in that moment it almost took his breath away.

When Blair first saw Nate her first thought was that he looked like he'd grown up, he looked like a man. Her second thought that he was as gorgeous as ever, was interrupted by his beaming smile which she couldn't help but return. And in that moment she knew without any doubt that there was nothing to worry about - even if Chuck claimed to have changed - Nate was really still her Nate. "Archibald." She spoke with an exhale as she relaxed.

"Waldorf." He replied smoothly, almost not believing just how happy he was to see her. "It certainly took you long enough to come see me."

Blair blushed as she took an almost timid step forward. "I know and I'm sorry. I wanted to visit I just . . ."

Nate looked at her strangely he could see that she was wrestling with herself internally. He'd seen her a few times over the past four years. Not as often as Serena because of his proximity to Chuck but enough to see the same thing Serena had seen - she was different. "I didn't even know where you were Blair."

Pressing her lips together for a moment she could barely meet Nate's eyes. "I couldn't trust that you wouldn't tell Chuck. You're his best friend Nate, you are supposed to take his side."

"I'm your friend too B. Don't forget that." Nate spoke dealing with a host of emotions he hadn't been expecting. The past few days he'd been jealous that Blair had gone to see just about everyone else before visiting him but talking to her now he realized he was much angrier at her than he'd originally thought and not for anything to do with Chuck. He was angry that she'd left him. "You didn't just run out on Chuck you know?"

Blair felt Nate's suppressed anger like a punch to the gut and unwilling tears instantly sprung to her eyes, mostly because she knew he was right. "Nate . . ." She started her voice soft but she paused because she didn't know what to say to make it better. Sighing she looked into his eyes. "I can't change what I did; God if I could I would. I would go back and shake that stupid girl who was thinking of running away and tell her she was making the biggest mistake of her life."

Nate looked away because he couldn't quite bear the intensity of the honesty in Blair's gaze. She was so set on what she was saying; she believed it with her entire being.

Realizing that Nate was too overwhelmed to talk, Blair continued. "Chuck is the love of my life and I threw that away; but you're right, I left you and Serena too. I missed so much. Your granddad's funeral, yours and Serena's graduations, Dan's wedding. I abandoned you guys because I was weak. I couldn't handle the pressure of this life anymore and I ran away. And for a while I couldn't come back because I was still too weak then it became a fear of what returning would mean and finally I was just so ashamed." Slowing Blair looked into Nate's blue eyes. "I've never regretted anything more."

Within seconds Nate had pulled Blair tightly to him, holding her small frame against his. "I've missed you Blair. More than I can say."

Blair nodded as she fitted her head into the crook of Nate's shoulder. "I've missed you too Nate, I've missed you so much."

After a few minutes Nate pulled back and looked at her, finally vocalizing what everyone else had been thinking. "You're so . . . different. How is it that you're so different than when I saw you at Christmas?"

Blair exhaled. Serena had asked her the same thing and she hadn't given her an answer. Whether it was because Blair wasn't sure she knew herself yet or because of the simple way Nate had asked, she found herself answering honestly. "I think it's because for the first time in my life I really know what I want. And I don't mean in the way I wanted you growing up or the way I wanted to be a powerful woman. I mean that I finally get it. I finally came to terms with what my heart's been telling me all along."

"Acceptance." Nate finally said with the smallest of nods. "That's what's different. Yeah there's a maturity and a groundedness to you that I hadn't seen before but I think that's rooted in the fact that you seem to have accepted yourself, who you are, and who you're meant to be. You're like one of those people who've been on a spirit walk, you're all centered."

Blair smiled. "Look at you getting all philosophical."

Nate shrugged. "It's amazing what your brain can do when it's not perpetually high."

At that Blair actually laughed. "So are you going to help me or what?"

Instantly Nate's smiling lips begin to ease into a frown. He'd known on some level that that was why Blair was here. This was at least partially a recruitment mission. For a moment there was an awkward pause as Nate thought of what he was going to say because even though he should have been prepared for this at the moment he wasn't. "He's happy Blair. Gwen makes him happy."

Blair inhaled slightly, she'd known this was going to be an uphill battle with Nate but she also knew that if she could convince Nate that this was what Chuck really wanted then she could win his allegiance. "He could be happier with me."

Shaking his head only slightly Nate placed his hands on her shoulders. "He doesn't think so. He thinks he's over you." He spoke, his words soft.

Blair's lips were set in a firm line. "He's wrong now, like I was wrong then. Denying what we have is only going to hurt us in the end."

Nate could feel his resolve cracking ever so slowly. Maybe it was because this was Blair and she could manipulate anyone, but honestly he thought it had more to do with the fact that so far Chuck hadn't convinced him that he was really over Blair.

Seeing that Nate's allegiance was wavering Blair forged forward. "I didn't think that a love like mine and Chuck's could last. I thought that it would destroy itself and us with it but if there's one thing I've learned it's that when you've felt that kind of love there's no real moving on. Sure you can love someone else, I did; but that can never measure up to the one 'great love.'"

As any semblance of resistance faded Nate still didn't speak but he could tell from the almost triumphant look in her eyes that she was aware that he was breaking.

"If he admitted he still cared and still chose her that would be one thing but I don't believe - I can't believe, that he feels nothing for me when I feel everything for him." Blair finished not realizing that she'd highlighted the same point that Nate had been trying to make to Chuck earlier. Chuck wasn't recognizing his feelings, he was shoving them away and pretending they weren't there, that they didn't mean anything and it wasn't healthy.

Slowly nodding Nate finally found his words. "What can I do?"

Smiling Blair gave Nate a quick hug. "You can start by helping me find him."

Nate nodded, he of course knew where Chuck had gone this evening and it was almost ironic. "I need you to know before I take you that it's not just an act that Chuck is putting up for you. He believes that he's over you as strongly as you believe that he isn't."

Blair started to scoff but Nate held her face forcing her to look at hm. "I don't want you to be crushed."

"I'm tougher than I look Archibald, I can handle him." Blair spoke her voice like liquid honey. "Now where are we headed?"

With a sigh Nate gestured towards the door. "We're heading to Victrola."

Chuck sipped his scotch inhaling deeply the aroma to avoid the stench of the man next to him . . . too much cologne, much too much. He was in a meeting discussing the sale of Victrola. He'd been looking for a buyer for the past year and a half but everyone he spoke with simply wasn't right. Some wanted to destroy it, some wanted to change it, and some just didn't have the right feel.

Tonight the man before him was phony, the trying-too-hard cologne alone told him that much; but there was something else about him, a certain air that caused Chuck to snarl as he spoke to him. The man was much too smooth, it was clearly a front, the man must be a fake. He acted so perfect, like he cared about the club but Chuck could see right through him.

It was as he was dismissing the man that he saw her. He kept his eyes low so that she didn't see his emotions because right now they were running the gauntlet. He was surprised to see her there at all, but something about seeing Blair in Victrola sent a warm feeling through his body. He almost smiled in remembrance of their memories here and for that one moment he was nostalgic for the way things once were.

Then he spotted Nate entering through the door and though he didn't approach as Blair was doing he knew they were there together. Traitor. But he wasn't actually surprised, he knew Nate had still been undecided about the situation in their last conversation. "Blair." He spoke in acknowledgement as she came to a stop before him.

"Chuck." Blair said in return, letting an easy smile slip onto her face. A few days ago her expectations had been too high. Right now she was just happy to be in his presence. She'd missed him so much.

Chuck almost smirked, almost. It was so easy to be around Blair if he let himself forget. He knew part of it was the influence of Victorla, the flood of nostalgia that he'd felt earlier was still affecting him. In that one moment he allowed himself to imagine where they'd be if she'd never left, how happy they might be; but just as quickly he remembered that she had left. Blair wasn't the person she once was, she wasn't the girl he fell in love with; she was the person who'd left him. "What brings you here?" He asked, once more fully in control.

Blair shrugged softly. "I'm here to see you of course."

Chuck sighed. "Feel free to have a drink, it's on the house."

Blair took the drink but as she did she frowned slightly. Chuck wasn't being cold exactly, she wouldn't even call it distant, he just seemed nonchalant. It was as though she didn't affect him at all. "It's good to be back." She spoke, her voice calm and controlled.

"In New York or at Victorla." Chuck replied lazily as he leaned against the bar.

Blair shrugged slightly as she laughed, the clear sound filling the air above the roaring sound of the club. "Both but I meant back with you."

Chuck shook his head eyeing her over his shoulder. "Blair…" He spoke warningly. "We've already discussed this."

Blair nodded quickly. "I know, I know, you're with someone else, I'm just here to talk."

"So talk." Chuck spoke languidly, allowing his gaze to sweep over her for the first time since her arrival. He hadn't been wrong the other day in his office; she still had the same air about her: disarmingly beautiful, impeccably dressed, a controlled confidence, and a look of pure innocence. But he knew it was all a lie.

Blair knew he was observing her, knew he was making mental notes about her for whatever reason, whether to destroy her or fixate upon later she wasn't sure. But she couldn't say she wasn't doing the same thing - wasn't memorizing the curve of his jaw with the stubble just beginning to surface and the arch of his back as he leaned against the bar. He was dressed to the nines as always but there was a gentlemanly air about him now that she'd been one of the few to witness before. His handsome looks were only enhanced by his new maturity; Chuck Bass had grown up well.

After a moment standing there quietly observing one another Blair nodded. "So tell me about your life, what I've missed."

Chuck studied her briefly before speaking. He wasn't certain exactly what to say. He could see in her eyes that Blair was looking for something to latch onto, anything at all. But Chuck didn't see the harm in answering her because he knew that there was nothing left for her to do that with. He inhaled before beginning, he could smell her just as he could the day she showed up in his office but this time he realized that he was still quite at ease. "I bought the New Yorker about 2 years ago, the Empire pretty much runs itself now and I needed a new project. It's gone well so far. I also have a series of night club ventures with Gwen's company Avalon Cosmetics. Which is why I'm working on selling Victrola - it just doesn't fit with the rest of the nightlife brand."

Blair had been following along, glad that he was talking to her even though he didn't seem particularly affected by her presence when she'd heard his last words. "You're selling Victrola?" She asked her voice rising in volume as her face turned white in shock.

For a moment Chuck was surprised by her anger, surprised enough that his own faced lost a bit of color. "I thought you already knew. I assumed Nate had told you why I was here - to meet with a prospective buyer."

Blair just shook her head, eyes widening further as she realized that Chuck knew that she'd been brought here by Nate. "No he didn't tell me."

Recovering quickly Chuck shrugged lightly. "So now you know."

"You can't just sell it." Blair spoke, noting immediately how emotional she sounded.

Finding himself sighing once more Chuck nodded. "It's not a decision I made lightly. There was a time that I wanted to make Victorla a chain of nightclubs, opening them up all over the world but it just never quite came to fruition and now this place is practically losing money. I don't have the time to put the effort into it that it deserves, not with my other ventures."

Blair was still shaking her head. "Who cares if it is making money? Victrola was your first venture on your own. It's special." Blair wasn't certain why she was panicking but at the moment she couldn't begin to control her feelings. She left the word special hanging because she didn't need to say the rest. It wasn't just special because it was his first venture, it was special to them.

Chuck nodded. "I'm working hard to find the right buyer. Someone I trust to manage it well and maintain its integrity. That's why it's taken me so long."

"Sell it to me." Blair exclaimed, surprising herself; though as the words came out she realized that she was okay with them.

Chuck scoffed. "I'm not selling you Victrola Blair."

"Why not?" She asked indignantly realizing that she couldn't bear the thought of this club going to someone who might not take care of it. "I have the money to pay for it and to keep it up; you know that."

Chuck shook his head. "It's not about the money Blair." He was surprised at how angry he was becoming in such a short amount of time. He was losing his cool quickly. "Did you miss the part where I said I had to trust the buyer? I don't trust you."

Gasping lightly Blair leaned back. "Are you being serious? You have to know that I would take care of this place. It matters to me too Chuck. . . you know that."

Shaking his head Chuck's eyes narrowed. "Of course I'm serious. I know how you treat the things that 'matter to you'" Pausing to gather his words when he spoke Chuck was aware that any calm he'd possessed earlier had quickly fled him as anger quickly took its place. "And honestly you are the last person that I'd sell to."

"Chuck. . ." She started imploringly. Staring at him with wide honest eyes, unable to believe what he was saying. "After everything we've been through? You don't really believe that. I'm not asking you to sell it to me as your girlfriend or lover or whatever; I'm asking you to sell it to me as your friend. Don't let this place go to someone that doesn't care about it, or for that matter care about you."

Once more Chuck shook his head, speaking his voice still in complete control even though his emotions were raging beneath the surface. "You just don't get it. I don't like you anymore Blair, I don't like the kind of person you are. And we most certainly are not friends, not after what you did."

Blair took a step closer to Chuck, a step that left them inches apart. "Let's see about that, shall we?" She spoke before turning and walking away.

Chuck was confused as to where she was going, moreso when he lost sight of her as Nate walked into his path. He was surprised and a bit confused by that entire conversation but most of all he felt angry. Angry because Blair had come back and was trying to take over his life. Angry because she'd had the audacity to try to buy Victrola. And angry because she didn't seem in the slightest bit fazed by his last words to her.

Nate had been watching Chuck and Blair's exchange from afar. He hadn't been too concerned when the emotions first started to show through their movements; it was Chuck and Blair, they were passionate people. Thinking this actually made him more concerned because it appeared that only Blair was really getting emotional. Beginning to walk towards them he saw it happen, he saw Chuck say something that really fired Blair up and caught Blair's last words as she walked away. "What's Blair doing?" He asked Chuck as he came to a stop next to his friend.

Shrugging, Chuck looked at Nate. "Whatever it is, it's not going to be good."

Swallowing, Nate looked around for Blair, but unable to find her his eyes went back to Chuck who'd begun to speak again almost to himself.

"She really doesn't get it. She doesn't see how I could have moved on, how I could feel nothing anymore." He spoke, his voice confused, almost as though he was questioning himself as to how to make her believe his words. That's when he heard it, the snappy beat that always seemed to get him going whether in a sexual manor or in a rage. Then the words began.

Well Anya you're late and Mya I'm here, The boys in the band decide to appear. We walk through the door savor the air, the girls on the floor have come here to stare.

That's when he saw her. She was onstage, hips swinging ever so lightly, ever so temptingly. She was staring at him, her gaze never breaking. And she knew he was watching as she slipped the zipper down on her dress, watching as it fell to the ground leaving her in quite a bit less than what she was wearing the last time she'd done this.

Chuck's jaw raised and his mouth tightened into a thin line as he watched her. There was still that fractured innocence about her that he'd wanted for himself back then but now there was something almost devious and calculating in her movements. She was trying to prove a point just as she had been the first time but she hadn't been trying to seduce him then, now she was.

"What's she doing?" Nate asked, eyes bulging from his head as he struggled to maintain his composure. Serena was his soon to be fiancé and Blair was nothing more than a good friend and an old ex but damn was she hot right now. His pants were tightening and he just wanted her to stop because seeing Blair do this was very very bad for him. Looking over at Chuck he was shocked to see that he had remained perfectly composed.

Chuck sent a puff of air through his nose and only broke his gaze on Blair to look at Nate for a moment, seeing that his friend was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. "She's trying to recreate our first night together. The night after you dumped her."

Eyes widening further, something that Nate had thought impossible, he tried to focus on matching Chuck's calm appearance. "I didn't give you enough credit man. Any resentment I ever had about you sleeping with Blair that night is gone. How could you not want to sleep with that?"

"I don't right now." Chuck spoke his voice low as he returned his eyes to her. Slowly allowing the anger to course through him as she fingered the garter on her stockings. His eyes didn't leave hers as the song ended. She walked towards him slowly, descending the stage and seductively walking forwards but all the time her gaze never wavered.

Reaching him, Blair was quick about placing her hands around his head and drawing his mouth to hers but Chuck was quicker as he leaned back, taking her hands and removing them. Though he moved his hands to her wrists holding her close as he practically growled his next words. "I've never been more furious with you than I am right now."

"Wha-" She started but Chuck gave her wrists a firm shake to quiet her as he continued.

Snarling, Chuck pulled her even closer. "I was content, I was done, I was happy with the past. I treasure this place because it was ours and we had something great. I need to sell it because that past is over but I would never want to taint or damage it."

Blair looked at him strangely, she knew that Chuck wouldn't hurt her, he'd never hurt her but she was very scared of something else entirely. In that moment she could see it in his eyes that he truly thought they were done, they were over. They were Victrola.

Loosening his grip only slightly Chuck's next words were words of warning. "Don't ruin what we had Blair. Don't destroy all the good stuff in your vendetta, don't destroy my memories of us because it will only make me hate you more. Memory lane is officially closed." With that he released her wrists, his eyes meeting her still shocked gaze. "Now put on your clothes and go home."

Chuck was exhaling loudly as he watched her leave. He felt as though a part of him had just died. He'd thought Blair was done destroying him but apparently not, apparently she would ruin everything she could before she'd give up. And yet it still wouldn't change anything, wouldn't change the fact that they were done.

"I'm sorry for bringing her here." Nate spoke, as he seemed to really see Chuck for the first time in a long time.

Chuck nodded. "You didn't get it. History was on your side."

Nate didn't move, he simply maintained eye contact with Chuck. "I get it now. I really get it." Blair was still playing games whether she realized it or not; Chuck on the other hand was done, he was so done.

So I hope this chapter helped explain a few things though of course there's more to explain as we go. I've loved hearing your predictions for the fanfic as well as your thoughts and ideas so keep them coming in your reviews (if you so choose to send one lol). Anyways REVIEWS are of course appreciated.

xoxo - kate