It was just 9 a.m. and Nate had been sweating profusely from his routine morning jog in Central Park. In the last day or two, he'd come to the conclusion that his relationship with Blair has reached a turning point. From having gone through so much, the trials and hardships and everything, they have already established a stable and long-lasting relationship based on love and conviction. He feels confident in their ability to withstand and overcome everything that comes their way.
He rubbed a towel against his face and neck, and as he did so, a woman in her 30s sitting on a bench caught his attention. With an astounded look on his face, he walked towards her to have a closer look on the newspaper she has been concentrating on for quite a while.
The headline nearly caused his knees to buckle beneath him, but he managed to grab a copy of the Post at a nearby newsstand and quickly folded the paper in half, hoping that he had not seen what he thought he had.
After ten more minutes of walking with his heart pounding in fear, he finally reached their apartment building and walked back to the elevator (he wanted to run, but the concierge and some people were watching him) and punched the button. At last the elevator arrived; when he got in and saw that it was empty, he unfolded the paper. The three terrible words hit him like three sharp blows to the head, and he stumbled back, reeling, banging his shoulder on the wall. But still the words were there, mocking him in huge bold letters over a color photograph of his fiancé and ex-best friend engaged in an intimate moment, sharing a kiss.
"MODEL? CHEATER? SOCIALITE?" the headline demanded, like a jeering jury in a trial court calling for an execution.
He lowered the paper in shock. The words marched by in his head like a child's taunting schoolyard rhyme: Model-slash-cheater-slash-socialite-ha ha- Model-slash-cheater-slash-socialite-ha ha… He didn't have to read the entire article to know what it was all about because he already had an idea. As much as he wanted to think none of it was true, the tremors in his body told him that it was…
The elevator opened and for a moment or two, he contemplated whether he would come home now or later knowing that she'd be there waiting for him.
Blair Waldorf was pacing back and forth in the living room, wondering where Nate was and if he has already seen the papers. The whole of New York has already woken up to this news and in this city; a celebrity's case of infidelity could provide an entertainment to millions. According to the papers, the recent pictures of them together (Blair and Nate pulling off a Brangelina) were only used to cover up the fact that their relationship is on the rocks and make people think that they still have the perfect relationship.
Nate was portrayed as the victim in the drama while Blair was seen as a cold-hearted bitch who didn't know a good thing. She would've laughed at the whole thing and cared less if she wasn't the one being described in the offending article. Nate could walk in anytime from now and she was already dreading the fight that could break in between them. All good things must come to an end, she painfully thought. She has seen this coming. The whole universe just wouldn't leave her alone and happy. They have just gone through a rough patch together and now there's another storm coming in their way.
She heard the key in the lock of the door opened. Nate sees her and shows her the newspaper article. "Is this true? I know what it looks like but I need to hear what you have to say for yourself first before I jump into conclusions."
This wasn't the way she had imagined him to react. She expected him to yell at her and accuse her of being guilty. She looked at him and found a trace of anger and frustration underneath the blank face he was holding. "The picture was taken the day after we made up and I went to see Chuck before he leaves for London…"
"And you only wanted to kiss him again one last time?" His tone was sarcastic and his face couldn't suppress the look of anger any longer. He really did want to know her side of the story first and understand but feelings of jealousy have come rushing back to him. Whenever Blair strip teased for him, he couldn't help but wonder how many times she has done it for his ex best friend. He could tell that she must have learned all those 'moves' from her experience with Chuck. Seeing her now makes him picture his hands all over her and it angered him to the point where he wants to smash everything into pieces.
"I just gave him back the box and bid him farewell. That's it, Nate. Nothing happened. You should know that I would never do something like that."
"The papers wouldn't run the whole story if you didn't give them an idea."
"The media gets it wrong almost all the time! The angle from which the picture was taken made it look like as if we were kissing but it was just one friendly hug."
"It didn't look friendly to me and besides, it wasn't the only time I saw you two caught up in a moment. You can't blame me for what I think."
"Just say it. You'd rather believe what the papers are saying than listen to a word I say. The moment you walked in here, you've already judged me. You never trusted me enough."
"If you weren't hiding something, why did you tell me you were meeting up with Serena when you were going behind my back, getting all hot for my ex-best friend?"
"I told you, NATE, it wasn't like that!"
"Then why aren't you answering the question? It's true, isn't it?" He places his hands firmly on top of her shoulders, shaking her as if doing so would give him answers.
"NO! It's not. I was just…" She tried to explain but her mind blocked out all of a sudden, feeling her head spin around in circles, her muscles tensing up.
"You could have just left it in his suite. You should've just told me all about it." His face was still smug as he still held a cold voice talking to her.
"Since when do I have to tell you everything I do now?" She tried to sound sardonic but failed to do so; she tried to give a look of indifference but her face give it away.
"I tell you everything, Blair. Where I go, who I'm with, what I'm doing, what time I'm going home, what time I'm leaving… It's what normal couples do!'"
"I should've told you, I know, but I didn't want to make you mad again over him…"
"You didn't have to go all the way to the airport to see him off."
"I didn't know why I was doing it!" There was a sudden throbbing pain in her stomach and she felt an urge to throw up.
"How are we supposed to get on with our future if you were always spending your time chasing the past? Weren't you the one who keeps on insisting on putting everything behind us?"
She pondered this thought. Was she really certain about her future with Nate? Had she really been chasing the past that is Chuck? She willed herself to ignore her doubts and reassure Nate of her commitment to him. But when no words came out of her mouth, he merely turned to look at her in disdain.
"I've always known you still had feelings for him! I never gave you a reason not to trust me. I've loved you with everything I have… I've given you everything you ever wanted and needed… And that just wasn't enough for you to give yourself wholly to me?"
"Don't you dare speak to me like that as if you've never done something wrong!"
"I've always been faithful to you this time around and you know it but if you wanna hear it… Yes, Blair! I slept with your best friend but I owned up to my mistakes. You slept with him and never told me the truth when we got back together. You lied to me!"
"That was only when we were broken up. You slept with her when we were dating! "
"What? Two hours after we just broke up? When I was being miserable at that time!"
"Miserable? You were prancing around town with another girl on my birthday. You only wanted to get back together for your family's sake! You used me!"
"I really wanted us to work as much as you did."
"But you never worked as hard."
"So this is where we're going now?" He stopped for a while to try to calm his self and summon up his thoughts. "Don't you realize how hard it had been for me to see you two together? Do you know how many times I wished I could be the one holding and kissing you instead of him? Don't you know what it's been like? I lost you to him and in the process; I lost my best friend too! I was young and stupid and I didn't know better and if I were given a chance to take everything back, I would've done things differently."
She wanted to say something back to him but felt her mouth heavy. The burning pain in her stomach worsened and she felt warm liquid flowing down her legs. Her eyes grew wide in horror as she realized she'd been bleeding. She looked at him and he became aware of her apprehension. His eyes darted to the bottom of the white and black pinafore dress she's wearing as it is now soaking wet with blood.
It was all happening so fast and he couldn't believe that he was in the position he's in right now. A sense of fear and trepidation came over him and he didn't know what to do. Her cries and the loud beating of his heart were becoming unbearable for him but he managed to carry her fragile body to the door, not minding the fact that there were reporters outside when he came in. He needed to get her to the hospital as soon as possible.