So, I have not abandoned this fic and I am still just as passionate about it as when I started writing it. Unfortunatly, I write chapters for this fic when I feel inspired; there'll be something I see or something someone says that makes me think of a moment Blair and Chuck might have shared and I write it down as fast as possible. I'm sorry for the long gaps inbetween but my muse is ever changing for this fic so please bear with me and know I appreciate all you guys for thinking this fic is something worth reading. I also put this in to the TV show section b/c it is TV-verse.
As always thanks for reading and I'd love to hear any thoughts.
Sooner or later this will fall apart
It takes more than science to save a failing heart
I wanted to keep you and hide you from the sun
but no one could reach you
Chuck Bass never needed people. Except Nate but that was really it. Chuck could make it through life with just his best friend. Oh, and some good weed. But that was truly it.
His best friend, on the other hand, was a people person. He liked being Mr. Popularity, knowing everyone's names, being the apple of every mother's eye, and the star on the rugby field. That was just Nate…but that was also how he found himself in the middle of two best friends. Though Nate, himself, was completely and totally unaware of the situation. He had always been slightly oblivious to his surroundings.
Chuck sighed; he, Nate, Serena, and Blair had hung out often since they were children. Their parents had all been friends and it was natural that they, the richest, most well known, and most influential of all the UES children would fall in together. Still, Nate was much better friends with 'the girls' (as Nate referred to them) than he was. He found female companionship boring, generally, unless there was scheming or sex involved but those were the expectations not the rule.
For the most part though, especially as of late, he had found himself hanging out with 'the girls' more and more often. It was obvious to Chuck that they were trying to get Nate's attention. They had both been granted permission to date over the summer and Nate had 'perfect boyfriend' written all over him.
Chuck, of course, did not like going out with 'the girls' because he'd never even make it to even first base with either of 'the girls.' And that was all he really cared about.
Nate, though, loved their company so as always Chuck conceded. Nate always believed the more the merrier and most of the time his limo was full because of that sentiment.
Sometimes he didn't mind, popularity did have its benefits. Like every girl wanting you.
Chuck watched Nate now. He was walking down the hall with both Serena and Blair on his arms. The three seemed occupied in an in-depth discussion though Chuck saw the inklings of wanting more than merely conversation from both girls. At some point both would demand more than friendship from Nate and Chuck knew his own life, vis-à-vis his best friend would be torn apart based upon this decision.
Blair had of course claimed Nate since the first day of kindergarten. Though he knew that wouldn't stop Serena. She was always breaking rules without knowing it. Blair's best friend was equally oblivious to everything around her at times.
He knew that if he asked Serena if she liked Nate she'd laugh it off. Nate wasn't her type but one had to be blind to not notice the signals she sent out.
But then again Serena had always needed attention. She didn't have the perfect family Blair claimed to have and Chuck knew how much Serena hated Blair for that. Though she'd never admit it.
He watched them now, it was their first year in middle school and already things were changing. Slowly around them couples were forming. He himself was a sworn bachelor. Why choose one when he could easily have them all?
That wasn't to say he hadn't changed in some respects. While everyone else was dabbling in first make-out session while intoxicated, he had crossed the line that no other sixth grader had.
All he had really learned from the experience was how to play emotional games. He did pride himself on that fact. He knew how to wrap the world around his finger thanks to her.
Nate didn't know about emotional games. He innocently believed the world was fair and just and that people generally got what they deserved.
Nate would never understand the full implications of what choosing between Serena and Blair meant.
He didn't know the world worked in horrible ways. That the UES and all the supposed friends of Blair and Serena preyed on situations when someone faltered.
Nate's choice would have implications on the social standings probably through all of high school.
If every girl saw Nate as the ideal boyfriend, who he chose, would clearly be part of UES royalty. A princess for prince charming. A queen to rule the school.
He really hates that it's supposed to be Blair but this is the path she was set on since birth. Eleanor had been talking about that Vanderbilt diamond for longer than even he could remember and he can only imagine the look of utter disappointment on her face if Lily is able to eye the diamond on her daughter's hand.
He wonders how Serena can believe Blair when she talks about her flawless family. The supposed happy and still married mother and father who doted endlessly on their perfect angel.
He wonders how she's never noticed Eleanor's constant comments about Blair's weight. How Eleanor and Harold barely spoke to one another. How a doting maid was really all Blair had at home.
Chuck hates that Blair is meant to play princess to Nate's prince charming because Nate is no prince charming and Chuck can attest to that fact. But it doesn't stop anyone from perpetuating the misinterpretation.
Nate came from old money. His mother was an heiress to a steel company. His father was a stellar broker who followed in his own father's footsteps. Shining examples of the UES at its best.
People didn't know that all Nate wanted was the opposite of what he had. How much he hated the way people saw him and how much he rebelled against it.
People thought Chuck to be impulsive but he was calculating. And he may have acted on his impulses more than others but everything was done for a reason. Before he did something, anything, he had gone over the different outcomes a million different times in his mind.
Nate simply lit up and did whatever he felt like. That was probably why Chuck could list multiple times he had rescued Nate's ass from a tight spot.
Nate was the most naïve, contradicted, and selfish person Chuck had ever met but people only saw the nice guy shell he wore. Deep down Nate hated what he had and this simple fact blinded him from seeing beyond his own pain. Seeing beyond his own constraints.
Outwardly Nate didn't want to be defined by the UES but Chuck knew that the more Nate tried to run from it the more he conformed to it.
Nate had no choice in being the prince charming of the UES. The only thing he did control was who would be royalty with him. It was meant to be Blair, but Chuck feared Serena would manage to steal the spotlight like always.
Chuck could already envision the scenario before him. It would be a club and they would be drunk. They had only starting drinking to the point of intoxication but Serena had already learned the art of being a desirable drunk. He could already see Serena on stage enticing Nate with her eyes. Giggling and acting like she has no idea what the sway of her hip did to men.
Blair was so much more hesitant about those things. She'd never once gone up on stage, even after all of Serena's urging. He knows she'd be trying to have a conversation with Nate but he'd already be too high and drunk to follow anything other than Serena on stage.
Chuck knows Nate would never be able to resist. He knows if Nate chose Serena it would never last but it would also be the end of everything for Blair.
Everything Blair wanted, even deserved, was to be determined by his unworthy best friend.
He hated that this was how it worked. That the rest of Blair's social standing depended on whether in one moment the well-mannered brunette could steal the spotlight from Serena.
He knows she won't. It's unladylike to do the things Serena does but he also knows it's the only way Nate would notice anything but Serena on that stage.
Nate would be impulsive in that moment and nothing else.
He thinks now of Serena's blonde locks and Blair's doe eyes. They're best friends but so different. He knows he has to do something.
He can't let Nate be the ass he is because there's something about Blair he won't even admit to himself. That innocence she still carries in her eyes. It's a breath of fresh air given the fact that everyone else is already so jaded by it all.
He likes that she still believes in fairytales though he's afraid to imagine what might happen if they shatter. Those fairytales defined Blair and without them he's unsure who she would be. And he likes her the way she is.
He knows he has to do something. Someone should be able to find some happiness in the emotional black hole they lived in.
He knows if he doesn't do something Nate will choose the leggy blonde because if he's learned one thing from his father it's that leggy blondes always win over perfect brunettes. And his mother had been perfect.
He's not sure if he's going on an impulse right now but he hasn't thought of the millions of scenarios like usual but he doesn't care because in his heart he knows this is the right thing to do.
They go out that Friday. There's some new club opening and they've all got fakes that say they're 21 when they look 12 but it doesn't matter.
He sees Serena on her second martini and he knows this is the night she's going to accidentally steal Nate from Blair. She's been getting more and more aggressive at school lately. She even convinced Nate to go off campus during lunch with her, knowing Blair would never violate school policy.
He walks up to her a moment later after finding the person he was looking for.
He was playing with fire he knew. One wrong move and it'd all go up in flames. He's sure what he's doing will ruin them all someday but right now it would save Blair.
He leans toward Serena, tapping her shoulder softly.
"Serena, I'd like you to meet Georgina Sparks. I think the two of you could be really good friends."
He buys them both a drink and lets them talk for a moment. They bond over their need for attention, though not in those exact words but Chuck knows that's the gist of it. Serena and Georgina are almost the same person.
They're going to destroy each other and he knows he is the one responsible for letting someone like Georgina Sparks into their group but he knows this is going to set Serena on a different path.
She won't need prince charming anymore because she's found someone who won't make her feel bad about the large sums of alcohol or countless men that want to dance with her. She was always lying to Blair about it.
He walks away from them. Sometimes he felt like the devil for twisting people but he knows that there was at least one good deed in all of that.
He spots Nate and Blair in a booth at the back of the club.
He's rescued one perfect brunette and that was all that mattered.
But enough of these pointless noises
Enough of just counting down
This is not a test
If love is not the answer
then maybe I misunderstood Oh the question
Oh there must be someway out of this
Aqualung lyrics
I wrote Chuck's version of how Serena would steal Nate to parallel how it later happens on the show because we all know Chuck is pretty much psychic at this point (at least when it comes to Blair). He managed to stop Nate from slipping once but it was bound to happen later.
Plus isn't Chuck introducing Serena to Georgina like the strangest thing? It just somehow fit (in my mind at least). So did Chuck's perfect mom. I just liked the idea that Chuck had a jaded view of women because of his own family situation (as opposed to a mom who died at birth).
I also thought about writing more of Chuck's thoughts but I felt like it was getting heavy and you saw a random and odd side to Chuck. Plus, I felt like there was enough of Nate through Chuck's eyes. I hope I didn't paint Nate too harshly, he's just confused and angsty and doesn't pay attention to things causing Chuck to have to pick up the slack.
Once again, I know 6th grade seems young but they're rich and unsupervised so things are bound to happen.
Hope you enjoyed the update. I do have the idea for the next chapter in mind, though it is going to be kinda radical but similar to a degree. We'll see how it plays out. Please leave a review, I love hearing feedback on everything.
Thanks for reading!