The next few days, Chuck tried to keep himself busy, tried to keep his mind off of Blair. That was, until Serena came back over, and he heard her screaming Nate's name all over again. That was when he took his guilty little butt down to Blair's favorite jewelry store and bought her a diamond-encrusted bracelet. And then, once again, he found himself at her door, dumb, with no excuse whatsoever. At least last time he had a reason for showing up at her door - even if it wasn't a valid reason. He told her that they had planned lunch together but in reality, they hadn't. He knew this could be easily "misplaced" in her mind, with all of the chaotic things going on in her life. He stepped off of the elevator again and this time, Dorota didn't come shuffling over to him.

But he did hear Blair's stomping footsteps and her loud yell, "Dorota, I thought I told you no visitors-" She stopped abruptly at the stop of the staircase when she saw Chuck. Her doe eyes went even wider than they naturally were and she blinked rapidly, as if surprised to see him standing there. This struck Chuck as odd, as it was a general occasion that he stopped by to see her.

"Do you mind my asking why there are no visitors today?" Chuck asked.

Blair looked at him like he was stupid. "Do you see the way I look!?"

Chuck looked at her, taking in her beauty. She was clad in a pair of flannel pajama pants (weird, Blair Waldorf hated flannel and thought it was tacky), an oversized white t-shirt (which he recognized to be one of his own, though he was unsure of how she'd gotten it), barefoot, with a massive ponytail of curls cascading down her back. He wasn't sure what she meant but he was sure she couldn't see her own beauty. It was hard to do. You can't just look in a mirror and see the beauty of Blair Waldorf. You saw it in the way she smiled when she talked about fashion and all of her upcoming designs and shows, and you saw it in the way her eyes lit up when she talked about memories of her family and her close friends. "I think you look quite marvelous," Chuck murmured. "But, of course, that's no different than any other day."

Blair blushed at him and couldn't help it when a smile played on her features. "Well," she muttered. "I guess it would be nice to have some company. And I could always use some help."

Chuck grinned as he followed her up the stairs and into her bedroom, where there were wedding magazines spread all about the floor. He eyed them and looked at her dramatically. She made a disturbed noise and stomped her foot. "Don't look at me like that, Chuck Bass. I really can't figure out what I want Serena to wear!"

"It's not that," Chuck said, his eyes growing wide. "It's the fact that you might just be a wedding magazine hoarder." He laughed. "It's okay, Blair. We'll get you some help."

"Shut up!" Blair said seriously, before she busted out in laughter. "Okay, I admit this looks bad but these were all sent to me by Nate's mother, I swear…okay, so I can start by telling you that I at least know what colors she looks decent in, so we can rip out pages and stack them in piles according to that."

"Listen, Blair," Chuck said. "Before we start, I have something I want to give you." Suddenly, he was nervous. This was very strange and new to him - he had never been nervous around girls, let alone one of his best friends. He reached into suit pocket and pulled out the long little black velvet box. A wave of excitement rolled over Blair's dark brown eyes as he opened the little box. When he revealed what was inside, she didn't shriek as usual. He looked up to see her expression and saw tears glistening in her eyes.

"Chuck," she breathed out. "It's beautiful. You didn't have to. Why-"

"Call it an early wedding present," Chuck said. "One of the many you'll be receiving from me, might I add."

A tear slipped down her face and she smiled as she took the little bracelet out of the box. It had been so long since Nate had done something like that for her that it was shocking. "Can you help me put it on?" she asked softly, and Chuck reached toward her, clasping the bracelet around her wrist gently. He had to admit, the diamonds looked incredible against the pale fairness of her skin, just as he had presumed they would. She wiped her tears away and laughed a little. "There, now something pretty is on me, and I don't feel as bad about myself."

"You should never feel bad about yourself," Chuck said, as he reached up to wipe another tear that had escaped out of the corner of her eyes with the pad of his thumb. "You're beautiful, Blair."

Serena reached for her phone on the nightstand, seeing that she had a numerous amount of missed calls and texts from Blair. She felt a lurch in her stomach and had the sudden urge to vomit. So, yeah, she was sleeping with her best friend's fiance, but that didn't mean she didn't feel bad about it. Of course she felt bad about it. She loved Blair and she loved Nate and it was a really hard thing to do to people you care about but she just couldn't help herself. Around Nate, she felt so happy and so comfortable and so safe. She had never felt that way about any other boy she'd been with before. This wasn't just about the sex for Serena, she was in love with Nate Archibald, which made it that much harder to see him about to marry her own best friend. They weren't happy. She knew that, they knew that, Chuck knew that, everyone knew that. But what could they do? They loved their families and would do anything to help them out. With the joining of the Waldorf's and Archibald's, New York wouldn't know what hit them.

She felt another pain, this one in her chest, as she thought about how it would be if the Archibald's joined with the Van der Woodsen's instead. Serena could be so much better for Nate. It wasn't that Blair was a bad girlfriend, she treated him well and was faithful - which Nate couldn't really say about himself - but, Blair wasn't in love with Nate. That was obvious. And he should be with someone that loved him, someone he loved back. To be fair, Nate was in love with Blair, but he was in love with the idea of her - his perfect, angelic, faithful girlfriend who never did anything wrong. This way, he could have them both - the good and the bad. Serena was the bad, of course. It could never be a good thing to sleep with your best friend's fiance, who she had been with since they were little. But Serena had loved Nate since before then and she knew that he had loved her too.

She locked her phone screen and placed her phone back down on the nightstand, standing up. "What is it?" Nate asked her, looking up from his television, where he had been playing one of his silly video games. Serena shook her head and Nate stared at her in disbelief. He paused his game, which he never did for Blair. That was the first sign that he was in love with Serena. "Serena, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything."

"Sometimes, this is hard," Serena started, placing her hand on her stomach.

"Oh, not this again," Nate sighed. "Look, Serena, you know I love you. I want you to be happy, and I'm sorry that I'm not the person who can make you happy."

"You do make me happy," Serena frowned. "You are the person who makes me happy, which is exactly why this is so hard. Maybe we should have never done this, never started this. We shouldn't be doing this. It's going to hurt Blair so badly if she finds out. She's been nothing but sweet to you, Nate. How can you not feel bad?"

Nate furrowed his brow, concentrating hard. "Serena, do you really think that I don't feel bad? Do you think it's easy for me to call her every day and talk to her about the wedding I'm having with her in a month and a half? Do you think it's easy for me to see her a few times a week and act like nothing is wrong? Of course it's hard! As much as I love you, I love Blair, too. So of course it's hard for me."

Serena stayed silent.

"Look, if you wanna go, go. But we both know you'll come right back in the morning, just like you always do." Nate said, standing up to meet her in front of the bed. "What we have...is amazing. It's incredible. I've never felt anything like this in my entire life. You're the most incredible girl I've ever known. If I could be with you for the rest of my life, I would. You know that."

Serena shook her head. "No, I don't. If you want to be with me, why don't you be with me?"

Nate made an impatient noise. "Serena. How many times do I have to tell you? This is helping my family out. I would do anything for them, you know that. And I really do love Blair. And I don't want to see her hurt by me breaking up with her a month before our wedding and running off with her best friend. And I know that you don't want to hurt her either. She's your best friend. We're all best friends. That's why she can never know about us. It would kill her, it would tear us all apart. I love the friendship we all have. You can't find a friendship like this. We're like...the non-judging breakfast club," he said. "We know everything we need to know about each other and accept each other's faults. That's so rare. That's so hard to find."

Serena nodded sadly in agreement. "I think it's a good idea if I go home, Nate."

Nate sighed again. "You'll be back in the morning."

Serena looked at the floor. "Yeah, I will," she whispered. She reached up and kissed him on the lips before retreating from his bedroom.

Serena found her way to Blair's penthouse, deciding it might be better if she just hung out with her for a while. She walked upstairs and began to knock on Blair's bedroom door, when she heard laughter erupt from inside. "Chuck, are you kidding me?" Blair snorted. "That's a hideous color!"

"I dunno," Chuck chuckled. "I think it's quite...flattering."

Blair ripped the magazine page he was holding out of his hand. "It looks like baby poop!"

Chuck busted out into laughter. "What kind of babies are you taking care of, Waldorf?"

Serena stood silent for a moment, even more saddened by the fact that they were having so much fun together. That was what she and Blair used to do...sit around and look at fashion magazines and talk about clothes. The guilt was consuming her, and she didn't know what she would do if she let it take over. She took this moment to knock on the door. She heard Blair raise to her feet and say something stupid to Chuck that made him laugh even harder. She opened the door and a genuinely happy smile reached her lips. "Serena!" she cooed, taking her best friend into her arms. "Where have you been? I missed you!"

"I missed you too, B," she said, hugging her tightly, smiling back at her. When Blair let go, she pulled her into the room. "What are you guys up to?" she asked, looking back and forth.

"Well, sis," Chuck replied. "We've actually been deciding what color dress we would like on you. It's been surprisingly interesting, to say the least." He eyed Blair and they laughed again. Serena felt suddenly left out, like she had missed out on a joke or something. Chuck saw his sister's smile falter and hopped to his feet. "I guess I'll let you ladies squeeze some bonding time in!" Blair looked sad to see him go, making puppy dog eyes at him. He caved. "Would you ladies like to go out for drinks with Nate and I? My treat."

Blair didn't even look at Serena before answering, "We would love to!" As she clapped her hands excitedly together. "We'll see you then. Bye, Chuck."

"Bye, Blair. Bye sis."

Serena eyed Chuck suspiciously. "Is there something going on between you and Chuck?"

"Yeah, you missed it! Actually we just got done having hot animal sex on top of these fashion magazines. Did you know magazines really turn him on? Wow, he's crazy." She rolled her eyes at the look on Serena's face. "No, Serena, nothing is going on between Chuck and I."

"But, the way you looked at him-"

"I just really enjoy his company," Blair said. "And his charming personality...and how he always can make me laugh...and the way he looks...and the way he smells…" She trailed off before realizing what she had said and shaking her head to snap herself out of it. Her hands flew to her mouth, covering it. "I don't know what has gotten into me lately!"

Serena gave her an I-knew-it look that only Serena Van der Woodsen could give. "I knew you were into him, B!"

"Don't say that like it's a good thing!" Blair said. "Might I remind you, I will be Mrs. Archibald in a matter of weeks! This is horrible! Absolutely horrible."

"Does he know how you feel about him?" Serena asked excitedly.

"Serena, stop!" Blair said warningly. "I'm happy with Nate. Please don't screw this up for me."

Serena frowned. "Okay, B, I'm sorry. But don't you think that Chuck at least deserves to know how you feel about him? I mean-" her eyes caught on the shiny bracelet that sat on Blair's wrist. "Did he get you that!?"

Blair snatched her hand away and hid it behind her back. "Serena!" She blushed.

"He did!" Serena said. "He totally got that for you! That must have cost him a fortune! Wow. He must be really smitten for you as well!"

Blair poked Serena hard in the arm. "What the hell has gotten into you?" Serena thought of an awful joke. Your boyfriend. How terrible. "Can you just stop? This is miserable enough that I have to deal with my own feelings toward him, I don't need you adding to the hysterics. Please, just leave it alone. I'm sure it's just a crush or...something, I don't know. I'll get over it. I have to. I have a little over a month. I can do that."

"Are you sure?" Serena asked. "Are you sure you can get over him that fast when you see him so often?"

"Maybe I'll just have to stop seeing him so often," Blair said, looking down at the ground. "Though I really don't like that idea all too much." She groaned. "S, what do I do? This can't be happening to me. Two months ago, I was totally content with marrying Nate. Now, I just feel so confused about everything and I have no idea what to do."

Serena stopped thinking about herself for a moment, stopped putting herself and Nate first. She looked at Blair calmly. "B, I love you," she said kindly, reaching out and taking her best friend's hand. "And everything is going to work out just fine, you'll see. Just keep going with the wedding planning and we'll see what happens. If you're not supposed to marry Nate, fate will find a way to stop it."

Blair scoffed disbelievingly. "What, like a sign from about?"

"I believe that could happen," Serena said.

"You really believe that?" Blair said softly, hope dwindling in her dark brown eyes.

Serena smiled back at her encouragingly. "I really, really do." They stared at each other for a moment before snapping back to reality. "So!" Serena clapped her hands together. "Show me your favorites for the color on my dress!" And they began going through Blair's piles, sifting through stacks of different styles and colors and designs. They did this for hours, before finally agreeing on one. "I'm so glad you didn't want me in pink. That's so cliche."

Blair laughed. "S, we're putting you in pale pink. That's not much different."

"Better than hot pink," Serena replied. "Though almost anything is."

Blair snorted with laughter and they both stood up. "It's almost time for drinks with Nate and Chuck!" She said. "I need to shower."

"Yeah," Serena agreed, looking at her friend's greasy hair and wrinkling her nose in pretend disgust. "You do."

Blair feigned hurt by placing her hand over her heart. "Pick something out for me to wear. You can just wear something of mine as well, if you'd like. I don't know if you have time to stop back by home." Serena nodded in agreement and began searching through Blair's walk-in closet.

Blair stepped into the bathroom, closing to door behind her, enjoying the feeling of the cold tile on the pads of her feet momentarily. She padded over to the shower and turned it on, almost the hottest it would go. She loved hot showers - the kind that felt like they might just burn your skin off - the kind that would leave your skin an irritated red when you finally stepped out. Steam began to feel the bathroom as she slipped out of her pajamas and into the shower. She thought about what she was supposed to do for a moment, but this gave her a tremendous headache, so she focused more on relaxing. That's what showers were for, right? Besides getting clean, of course. When she finally finished washing herself, she got out of the shower and blow-dryed her hair. When she was finished, she turned her straightener on and wrapped a towel around her torso, walking back out into her bedroom. Serena was already dressed, in a gorgeous red dress of Blair's that would only look good on her tall figure. Blair wasn't even sure why she had it - it was far too long for her liking. "You look great, S," Blair complimented, watching Serena apply her makeup in the mirror. She was wearing black velvet pumps that made her even taller and her hair was in a fishtail on the side of her face. She had on light makeup to contrast with the bright lipstick she had applied to her lips. "You can keep that dress, by the way. I don't like it."

"Aw," Serena said. "Thanks, B. I picked you out that darling blue dress with the open back that I always loved."

Blair smiled. "That's one of Chuck's favorites-" She caught herself, the heat rushing to her cheeks.

"You know," Serena said, placing the cap back on her mascara. "It's okay to like someone."

"Yeah," Blair said, "But not while you're about to marry someone else." She dropped her towel and pulled the dress on.

Serena looked surprised. Blair not wearing a bra was a common occurrence, one that usually went unnoticed. But Blair not wearing underwear never, ever happened. "You're not wearing underwear tonight?" She asked.

"I'm not really in the underwear-y mood," Blair replied, retreating back to the bathroom to curl her hair with her hair straightener.

Serena watched her go, jealousy boiling in the pit of her stomach. She had a strong feeling that had something to do with Nate. She tried to swallow hard past the lump in her throat and ignore the burning sensation in her chest but she couldn't. Tonight, Nate wasn't hers. He could be hers behind closed doors all they wanted but they would never be able to be together like that in public. Tonight, Nate belonged to Blair. And she would have to watch her paw at him and ogle at him and be a desperate girlfriend in need of attention, as always.

When Blair returned, she looked incredible. That made Serena even more jealous but by this point, she had time to calm down. "Wow," Serena said. "You look amazing!" Blair had placed a thin red belt around the dress that somehow complimented the blue very well. She had red heels to match it, which only made her a tad bit taller than she already was. She had a dark smokey-eye on her eyelids, which really made her brown eyes pop, and she wore a nude shade of lipstick that made her lips look fuller. Blair's vision focused on something on her bed. "Oh, I took my underwear off too. I figured we could do it together and be kind of crazy for a night!"

Blair held up Serena's little black thong. "S, this is hardly underwear to begin with." She tossed it aside and took a deep breath. "Are we ready? We were supposed to be there fifteen minutes ago."

"So, we'll be fashionably late," Serena shrugged.

"Just like I always like to be," Blair said excitedly.

"Well," Serena said. "Just try not to do that at your wedding!"

Blair laughed nervously and they linked arms as they walked downstairs to get into the limo Chuck had sent for them. Blair felt her heart pick up its pace as they drew closer to the bar they were going to. She wasn't excited to see Nate and she knew it. She was excited to see Chuck. She was always excited to see Chuck. Nate hardly heightened her senses. Honestly, the reason she didn't wear underwear tonight was because she hoped maybe Chuck would notice. Her heart increased even more when they stopped in front of the club and someone opened the door. She tried to play it off that she was just excited to be getting out of the house but she knew that wasn't the case. Serena slid out of the door and Blair followed her. A hand extended out to her and she looked up to see Chuck's hand in front of her face, a grin on his face. She allowed him to help her out of the car and smiled back at him, afraid her palms were sweating and he would feel it. That, or maybe he would feel her pulse through her palm. He placed his arm around her waist, escorting her inside like the absolute gentleman that he was. She looked in front of her to see that Serena and Nate were in the same position, Nate whispering something into Serena's ear.

Blair felt a hint of jealousy. It wasn't the same kind of jealousy that she felt when Chuck was near other women, though. It was just a pure, genuine jealousy that the guy she had been with for so long might not love her the same way anymore. All thoughts were ripped out of her skull when Chuck's hand touched her bare back. It was all she could do to keep herself from jumping and she breathed in a hiss through her teeth. His skin felt so good against hers, almost like it was supposed to be there. Chuck looked at her, concerned. "You alright?" he mouthed, over the loudness of the club as they stepped inside.

Blair nodded her head, thankful for him.

Nate turned around and kissed Blair on the cheek. "Hello, darling," he said. Blair was shocked at how dull his voice sounded compared to Chuck's. Chuck's voice was smooth and cool and deep and seductive. Nate's was just your average voice.

"Hi," she smiled up at him.

"I noticed you aren't wearing underwear," Nate whispered huskily into her ear.

Normally, this would have turned Blair on, but for some reason it really weirded her out. A thought flashed through her mind as she thought about how it might feel to have your brother tried to seduce you, and this felt a lot like that. "Yeah," she said, forcing a smirk upon her lips, trying to act cheeky.

"Did you do that just for me?" he asked.

"Of course," Blair whispered back. "Who else?" She turned to see Chuck talking quietly with Serena at the bar. "Let's join them, shall we? And let's not act so couple-y tonight. Sometimes I feel like it makes S uncomfortable." Nate fidgeted beside her and she threw him an odd look. They made their way over to Serena and Chuck and Blair seated herself beside Chuck and Nate, naturally, seated himself on the other side of Serena. No one thought about how strange this appeared - the soon-to-be newlyweds sitting so far away from each other. This was just the order they always sat in, and they always had. It would be very odd if they didn't, and if they did, it would usually mean that one of them was mad at the other.

"You look incredible," Chuck whispered to Blair under his breath.

Blair's breath caught in her throat. "Thank you. You look wonderful too. But you always do, so that's not really a surprise."

Chuck ordered margaritas for Blair and Serena. Nate was suddenly behind Chuck, asking him to switch him places. A round of looks was fired from Serena, Blair, and Chuck, confused as to why Nate suddenly wanted to switch. Chuck agreed hesitantly and took a seat on the other side of Serena, who raised her eyebrows at him. He simply shrugged and ordered a scotch. "And keep them coming," he said when he saw Nate lean in to kiss Blair out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah," Serena agreed. "Me too."

After a few drinks, Blair was completely gone. She had gone from her Nate-is-weirding-me-out-try-to-stay-away-from-him stage to being completely all over him. Well, maybe she wasn't all over him. Maybe she was just seriously too drunk to hold herself up. Serena and Chuck sipped on their alcohol, miserably. Usually, the four of them had a blast when they went out together, but tonight, the tension and jealousy was too much in the air that it almost suffocated them. "Let's go dance, B!" Serena said, standing up and pulling Blair with her, finally tired of seeing Nate rub her inner thigh.

"Oh, I'll come with you!" Nate stood up.

"No," Blair said drunkenly. "Then Serena won't have anyone to dance with!" They all looked at Chuck.

He raised his eyebrows.

"Ew," Serena said. "I'm not dancing with my own brother."

"Fine," Nate said, challengingly. "Chuck can dance with Blair and I'll dance with you."

Chuck almost choked on his scotch and it seared his throat even more. It was all he could muster not to spit it out all over the bar in front of him as he looked around wildly and Serena and Nate disappeared into the throng of people. "I guess you're dancing with me," Blair slurred, tripping over her own feet. Chuck caught her, pulling her close to his body. She sat on the stool next to him. "We don't have to dance. We can just sit here and talk."

Chuck grinned at her drunken state. "I would love that. What would you like to talk about, Blair?"

Serena and Nate were somewhere in the middle of the dance floor, mixed in with all the crazily dancing people around them. Serena grinded her hips against Nate's pelvis, as he gripped on to her hips so hard that she thought they might bruise. She didn't mind and just kept dancing on him. Suddenly, he whipped her around. "I see you're not wearing underwear tonight," he murmured. "Did you do that just for me?"

Serena looked offended. "Didn't you just say that to Blair when we came in?"

Nate looked shocked. "How did you-"

"She tells me everything," Serena said. Her hands flew up to massage her temples. "God, this is so embarrassing! I've become that girl I hate! I've become the girl who is supposed to fall for a line that a guy tells all of his girls!"

"Serena," Nate said, grabbing her wrist. "You know how I feel about you."

"I saw the way you were all over her," she said, ripping her hand out of his grasp.

"You know I have to pretend," Nate said calmly.

"That didn't look much like pretending to me!" Serena snapped. "You know what? I'm out of here, Nate." She held her hands up, stepping away from him. "I can't play your damn game anymore. I'm sick of it."

"You'll be back in the morning," Nate said, just like he always did.

"No, I won't," Serena shook her head furiously. She stepped back again. "I'm leaving. Tell Blair and Chuck I - got sick or something and I'm going home." She turned on her heel and disappeared through the crowd of people.

"Serena!" Nate called after her. He stood still for a moment, shocked. He wasn't sure about what to do. Should he go after her? Pursue her? But what would he do when he got there? He didn't know but he did know he needed to find out. He pushed through the crowd of people, running after her. An image flashed through his head of stopping her on the sidewalk, turning her around dramatically and kissing her hard and passionately on the lips. His vision stopped when he saw Blair practically falling out of her seat at the bar. He groaned in annoyance and ran over to her. "Where's Chuck?"

Blair looked up from where she was staring at the bar. "Chuck is...Chuck is...I don't know where Chuck is." She made a weird face and continued to stare at the bar. "WAIT!" She looked up victoriously. "I know where he is! He ran after Serena."

"Great," Nate commented. He was sort of glad that Blair was drunk, so he wouldn't have to explain to her why he and Serena had got into a fight in the first place. He sat down on the stool next to her. He watched her lips move into a pout and was overtaken by the sudden urge to kiss her. He obliged to his urge and kissed her hard on the lips. When he pulled away, he was out of breath, and she was sitting there looking like the kiss had never happened. But he knew differently. He grabbed her hand over the top of the bar and squeezed gently. Maybe not going after Serena was a good idea. After all, she would be back in the morning. She always was.

A/N: Okay, I know, I know, I know! I know Nate is coming off really douche-y in this story so far, but he just needs some time to figure things out. Being in love with two people is not easy, let me tell ya from my own personal experiences! Anyway, I promise it'll get better and please don't kill me. Nate is definitely one of my favorite characters too but he's going through a rough time. R&R. Thank you!