WARNING: I hate spoilers, please do not spoil me!

NOTE: This story is based after 2x04 "The Ex-Files". Later concepts may be used, but everything basically deals with the plot from 2x04 on back.

"So, what about Marcus?" Nate asked, continuing their conversation now that they'd arrived at STK and their dinners had arrived. He was attempting to push away the weird feeling that had come over him when Blair had paid for the cab. She may have reassured him, and she was absolutely correct about the numerous times he'd provided the same for her, but he was still feeling awkward about it. He was pretty sure she was going to spring for dinner too. He shifted uncomfortably and brought himself back to the discussion at hand.

Blair was giving him a perplexed look, edged with annoyance.

"Are you over him, as well?" Nate pushed the topic even if Blair didn't seem to want to discuss it.

Blair continued to glare at him a moment longer before stabbing a piece of lettuce so hard with her fork, the tines made a loud Ding! sound.

"I don't need to get over him," Blair scoffed. "I had no feelings for him whatsoever." Well, she sort of did… but it was nothing close to the level at which she'd ever cared about anyone else in her life. She had been more upset because she felt humiliated and… worthless. She was once again reminded that happily ever after didn't seem to be in the cards for her.

She was starting to wonder if she was one of those people destined to go through life alone and miserable.

Jeez, her thoughts were depressing tonight. And she had been having a good time too! Screw Marcus! She was going to have a great time tonight!

"He wasn't good enough for you anyway," Nate replied, seeing the flash of hurt in her eyes even if she was denying it. It hurt to be cheated on, period. They both knew that lesson too well already.

Blair poked at a tomato and gave a jerky half laugh of sarcasm.

"So, are you over Catherine?" she snapped pointedly.

"Absolutely," he confirmed, almost shuddering at the mention.

Nate shifted uncomfortably again. He shouldn't have brought up the Marcus subject.

He guessed that since she was the only person who knew about his secret with Catherine and about the money (besides Vanessa, whom he didn't really want to speak to), he felt more relaxed and comfortable around her. He assumed that maybe she would feel the same relief seeing as how he was the only one (once again, besides Vanessa) who knew about Marcus' betrayal.

What was that saying about people who assumed? Of course that wouldn't relax Blair. She'd probably only relax if no one else in the world knew why she broke up with Marcus.

He looked around, hoping to find something to change the topic. Ah, yes, there we go!

"We've got incoming," Nate said, amused.

Blair rolled her eyes when she spotted Isabel and Penelope making their way over. They weren't the only ones who had been paying attention to her and Nate either.

This was what she wanted, of course. Lots of attention, envy: she wanted the girls to come over and fawn only so she could send them away wanting more.

She didn't factor in that she would actually be enjoying herself while having dinner with her ex. After the final breakup, she couldn't help but ask herself 'why?' at one point. Why was she ever even with Nate?

She remembered complaining to Serena that he was always brooding, but the truth of the matter was, she wasn't sure if there was really enough 'going on' upstairs to qualify as brooding.

With some shame, she realized that her thoughts toward Nate and Marcus were sort of… the same.

She just needed them to look good.

Had she really always been that shallow?

Blair took the opportunity to wave Is and Penny in the opposite direction, giving the illusion of wanting privacy with Nate.

In reality, she just didn't really want to speak to them. She wanted their attention, but she was angry with them for ignoring her earlier, and she was angry with herself because she was having a small epiphany and not liking it one bit!

"Didn't want any company?" he asked, seeing the little wave and the girls' departure.

"I'll talk to them tomorrow," she shrugged. "Besides, you and I haven't talked in forever. We're catching up. They can wait." She gave him a wide smile.

Wow, he hadn't seen that smile in a very long time. Usually it was forced or conniving and resembling a smirk. But this was the smile she used to always have. The real one that just let the world know she was happy In recent years, he'd only ever seen that smile when she was talking about her father or with her father.

"Dance?" he suggested, looking to the dance floor.

Blair glanced toward the couples and started grinning.

Bom bom de dum, bom bom de dum dum

"Just one," she qualified before taking his hand as he pulled her out of the seat.

She laughed as she followed him. He was already swaying as he made his way forward.

I'm going crazy now

We're in the city of wonder

Serena knew the two had already arrived. She'd been arguing with herself for hours after her talk with Chuck. She really shouldn't do this, but Blair hadn't really left her any other option… she didn't want to ruin Blair's date though…

She was just going to stay on the outskirts and wait for her chance. Surely Blair would have to go to the bathroom eventually. She was eating dinner; she'd need to check her lipstick to make sure everything was perfect.

The plan was very simple, getting Blair alone seemed easy.

It was getting Blair to listen to her that would be the hard part.

She really hadn't meant to take the crown away from Blair… she was just so mad! She'd told Blair and the girls over and over again to just leave Dan alone. She'd argued and pleaded and told them to just chill!

But Blair was having none of that, and she'd conveyed the same thing to the girls. The girls had Serena's best interest at heart, Serena knew that, but it wasn't what Serena wanted.

The Nairtini was the final straw.

Serena needed to control the girls. It was the only way she would gain some peace of mind. And the only way to control the girls was to take them over.

Ain't gonna play nice
Watch out, you might just go under
Better think twice

She hoped Blair would understand… and then she was going to find out what the hell had happened with Marcus and find out how Blair was doing.

… which seemed to be just fine… Her eyes widened when she finally spotted Nate and Blair out on the dance floor.

Serena had serious misgivings when she'd watched Nate ask Blair out earlier that day. She was very surprised Nate was even speaking to B considering the two had pretty much pretended the other didn't exist for quite a while now. She didn't know what had changed, but she knew one thing for sure.

This wasn't good.

She'd witnessed Blair heartbroken over Nate Archibald too many times to count. She'd been there to pick up the pieces every time Nate broke her… and she'd had a hand in breaking Blair once or twice herself over Nate.

Plus, as far as she knew, Nate hadn't ended things with Catherine. Of course, she hadn't spoken to him alone since the White Party. For all she knew, everything was over and done with… but she at least needed to confirm it before she let go of her worry.

She was not going to let him break Blair again.

Except… while she watched them dance, she realized that Blair actually seemed to be enjoying herself. It'd been a while since she'd seen Blair laugh and 'let go' like that. Before summer break, there'd been too much going on with the wedding and the breakup to goof around like they used to. And after summer break, Blair had been stung and hurt, still recovering from Chuck's abandonment. They'd talked and laughed, but they hadn't just… goofed—though Blair would declare that wasn't a word.

But Blair was goofing now.

Your mind is in disturbia
It's like the darkness is the light
Disturbia

Blair obviously wasn't feeling any worse for wear over Marcus' sudden departure.

And she was having too much fun. Serena didn't want to ruin that. Maybe if Blair looked bored or like she was being polite… but Blair was genuinely having a good time.

She'd just have to talk to Nate and make sure everything with Catherine was in the past… and warn him that if he hurt Blair again, she'd kill him.

Well, maybe not kill… she'd had enough of that to last a lifetime… but she would definitely make him regret it.

She felt a brief pang of pity for Chuck because he surely wasn't going to like this development. Then she abandoned that thought. Chuck didn't need, nor would he want, her pity.

But that didn't mean she felt like going home where he was surely waiting for a report of the evening's events. She didn't want to have to explain to him why she decided to not talk to Blair.

Maybe she should go out… she considered going to 1OAK, but they didn't open until eleven. Well, she'd just have to find some other place and maybe stop by 1OAK later.

Wherever she went, it was going to be as far away from Blair and Nate as possible.

Bom bom de-dum, bom bom de-dum bom

Blair couldn't help bursting out laughing when Nate mouthed the little 'bom bom's at the end of the song.

This was all just so ridiculous, but she hadn't felt this carefree for a long time. It really felt like such a relief to get up and dance. She hadn't once thought about Marcus or, God forbid, Chuck.

And she'd been so stressed about the current state of her relationship with Serena! It felt good to be able to go out with a friend, one who she could relax with. He'd seen all the good and most of the bad. They knew each other's secrets and didn't judge the other because of it.

"Gossip Girl can eat her heart out," Nate teased as they made their way back to their table.

Blair grinned, agreeing completely with that sentiment. She shook her head at the irony of it all. Nate had way too much going on in his life but instead of focusing on that, he decided to focus on saving her? What, was he campaigning for that Prince Charming title again?

She stiffened at the thought and knew she had to address it.

"Nate…?" she started out by just saying his name gently before making her voice go up at the end and changing it to a question.

"Yeah?" he smiled.

"This is just for show, right?" she said uncertainly. "I mean, I just want to make sure that even though Gossip Girl may get some ideas from this… that we don't…" namely you.

"Absolutely," Nate agreed immediately. "We're just friends, Blair. It's been long overdue, don't you think?"

Blair breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, we were a real couple long enough, I'm sure we could make a decent pretend one, don't you?" She laughed.

Nate just grinned, shaking his head at the irony. Hadn't he just gotten out of a 'pretend' relationship? Of course, no one could ever confirm that he was dating Serena over the summer, but it was still funny how everything was working out.

"You're the only girl I would want to fake date," he teased, winking. "Well, besides Serena, that is."

Blair rolled her eyes. "Ugh, do not mention her right now." Just like an Archibald to ruin a perfect moment with discussion of a hated subject.

"I'm just saying," he qualified. "I'd rather fake date you."

"Well…" what was she supposed to say to that? "Thank you, Archibald. That's exactly what every girl would love to hear."

She was smiling again; she just knew it. This whole flirting and teasing with Nate was so new, she wondered when conversing with him had gotten so easy. She felt a momentary flicker at the thought that she'd just done this … pretended to date someone. It was sort of a 'been there, done that'. And that one hadn't worked out so well. But this time Nate was on board for the fakeness… ugh, maybe this was a bad idea. Fighting for her crown and one-upping Chuck by "dating" Nate Archibald again?

She was going to have to think about this because she wasn't sure it was something she really wanted to do.

"I try," he said with false bravado, shrugging and giving his devil-may-care most charming smile.

"What are you doing?"

"Chuck!" Serena squealed, so excited to see her step brother that she would have run straight at him and probably bowled him over if not for the fact that she couldn't seem to maintain her balance on her Louboutins long enough to take two steps, much less run.

Chuck raised an eyebrow. Serena was drunk as a skunk and barely standing upright, being assisted by some tall and leggy brunette who definitely wasn't Blair.

"What happened tonight and who's this?" he asked. He'd been waiting all night for something, anything on Gossip Girl, but thus far there hadn't been one mention. He assumed GG would wait 'till morning to publish the headline about Blair and Nate's possible reconciliation. GG loved to break news first thing in the morning if possible, that way everyone spent their day gossiping about… the gossip?

"Pop-peeeeeee," Serena dragged out the girls' name. "I just met her tonight! Isn't she amazing? Poppy, my room is…" she looked around in confusion for a second, "that-a-way!" she squealed, pointing toward the stairs.

Chuck shook his head. "I'd suggest the couch, but your mother's home."

Poppy, who was pretty much in the same condition as Serena, just giggled as she lost her hold of the blonde and they both dropped to the floor, hitting their asses with a smack. The two girls started laughing hysterically.

Chuck sighed and called for a staff member.

"Sir?" said the man who had clearly been schooled in keeping a straight face at times like these.

"Please see Miss… Poppy," Chuck wondered what the hell kind of name that was. He'd heard something about a debutant by that name. Interesting company Serena was keeping… "…to the front desk. Send her home in a limo. Make sure the driver knows to assist her."

"Very good, sir," the man said impassively.

Chuck sighed. Of course it was 'very good' of him. Besides, he figured if he helped out Serena's friend he might be more likely to get coherent information out of her tomorrow about tonight.

"Uh, sir?" the man paused, looking toward Miss van der Woodsen who was lying on the floor now, on her back, staring at the ceiling and giggling like a lush.

"I got this," he said, dismissing the man with a look.

After the elevator doors closed, Chuck sighed again and went to drag her drunken ass to her feet.

He looked at those feet and cursed. He wasn't getting her upstairs with those killer spikes on. He might even lose a leg or two in the process.

Not the best ending to a less than stellar day though it seemed fitting, he thought with disgust as he took off her shoes before tossing them to the side.

He briefly wondered how she managed to get as far as she did in those things to begin with. He wouldn't have had to worry about one-upping Blair then. Gossip Girl would rather make a headline out of a shoeless drunken Serena, wondering if she was off drinking her sorrows away…

But then that would be the same old story about Serena and Brooklyn…

Unless…

"Serena," he said softly, waving his hand in front of her face to get her attention. "Did you go to STK tonight?"

"Uh huh," she murmured dreamily, nodding.

"Did you talk to Blair?" he asked.

"Uh uh," she denied, shaking her head before frowning.

"Why not?" he grumbled. He should have known she would mess something this simple up. He should have gone with her, but decided that would look too suspicious.

"Cause…" she trailed off before a small smile came to her lips. "She was so happy," she said in wonder. "Didn't want to ruin that… she deserves to be happy for one night. Didn't want ruin it." She shook her head, grinning ruefully.

He winced.

Happy? Nate didn't know how to make Blair happy. And where the hell was all this coming from anyway? Blair must be a better actress that he'd thought… except Blair sucked at lying. It was one of the reasons she hated when people lied to her because she could never lie convincingly.

"But you did go?" he had to make sure of that at least.

"Uh huh," she nodded again. "Bom bom de-dum, bom bom de dum dum!" she sang.

He smirked. That was all he needed to hear… minus the humming of course.

He didn't know what the hell Nate was trying to prove by going out with Blair… he sure as hell better not have any lingering feelings because Chuck wasn't going to take this one lying down. Things were different this time around, and Nate knew about Chuck's feelings toward Blair.

"Someone has to!"

The words replayed in his head again. The more he thought about it, the more he was beginning to think that Nate was only hanging with Blair to prove a point… like Nate wanted Chuck to treat Blair differently… The idea was sort of disturbing.

As far as Chuck was concerned, Nate had no business getting involved with this thing he had with Blair. Nate needed to back off and focus on his own life.

He typed a message to Gossip Girl and sent it before stooping to yank Serena up. Helping Serena like 'old times' was only fun when Blair was there to strip her down while Chuck tried to peak at the innocent, but helluva sexy, girl-on-girl action. He didn't like having to wrestle with her himself.

But he'd deal with this and then it would be time to turn in, waking up just in time for his latest siege of the former queen to prove victorious.

This thing with Blair, it was all an elaborate game—a war game.

And he intended to be the victor.

The Return of the Party Queen!

SPOTTED: S drunk and disorderly. One might assume she was mourning a certain Lonely Boy, but sources say that she was spotted with her eye on B & N at their reunion dinner at STK last night. Now, everyone knows that a Constance 'Girls of the Steps' isn't allowed to date anyone's ex, and the rumors about N & S over the summer never proved to be true… but is it possible our golden pair really were involved? Or maybe S has some unresolved feelings toward N? If so, she took the hit pretty hard last night. Seems N is ready to forgive and forget as far as B is concerned. Poor S, after all the trouble with DH, you'd think she'd get a break. You know you love me, XOXO Gossip Girl.

To be continued…

Song: "Disturbia" by Rihanna