Author's note: Are you guys amazing or what?! What a wonderful reception of my newest story…

If some of you feel confused about the changing p.o.v, then my advice is to keep track of the markers in between the blocks of text. –b- is for Blair, -c- for Chuck, -s- is for… yeah… I guess you understand. Thank you's are at the bottom. Now on with the story…


How We Breathe

.¨-¨.

Chapter 2 – Practice Makes Perfect

Sunday, January 13th 2008

-b-

She wakes up to a totally unfamiliar environment. And it takes her at least half a minute to figure out where she is. When she does, she quickly looks around for Serena and realizes that her blonde best friend is sleeping right beside her.

Her head is pounding as if someone is remodeling the inside of her skull with a sledgehammer, and she squints against the light from the window.

How the hell did she end up in Brooklyn-boy's bedroom? And why?

The last thing she remembers is a foggy mess of bits and pieces from Zanzibar, their old hang out on 6th. She remembers having a couple of Martini's with Serena, and Serena begging her to just come along with her to the Spring term-mixer. She had refused, hadn't she? Said something about not feeling well, and when she thinks about it, it had been true.

The room had been spinning viciously and she had felt this weird pressure over her chest. Kind of like the beginnings of a panic-attack. But she couldn't have had a panic-attack. She's Blair Waldorf for crying out loud…

For a second she wonders if her mother ever had a panic attack, or if Audrey Hepburn did, but then Serena moves in the bed next to her and she closes her eyes again and pretends that she's still asleep. She should have known though. It takes less than five seconds before her blonde childhood friend starts to shake her gently.

"Blair… Hey… Wake up B…"

She groans to show her protest and she misses the peace and calm of her own bedroom. Her sleeping-masque, her satin sheets, Dorota…

Finally she gives up and blinks towards Serena.

"Shhh…" she mumbles. "No loud sounds, please… My head is killing me…"

Serena is watching her closely, like a mother feeling the forehead of her feverish child. Then she sits up and rests on her elbow.

"What the hell happened last night Blair? Do you realize that I couldn't even take you home? I've never seen you so drunk…"

She swallows. That bad, huh? It's weird because after that feeling of someone sitting on her chest, she hardly remembers anything. Just that she had felt nauseous and that she had asked Serena to… No… fuck…

"Please tell me you never found Nate…" she groans and buries her face in the pillow.

But when Serena doesn't instantly answer, she knows. Serena had found Nate, but her being in this bed, in Serena's boyfriend's bed, tell her all she needs to know.

"On second thought; Don't tell me…"

The sadness on Serena's face becomes deeper and her blonde friend reaches out and touches her cheek in a gesture of support. Although in her head it feels more as pity.

"He was really wasted. I doubt it if he even remembers…" Serena mumbles weakly, and her detest for the pity-party grows even deeper. So deep that she waves Serena's hand away with an annoyed motion and turns towards the wall.

But of course it's not that easy to get away. When Serena talks again, she can almost hear her friend's voice cracking.

"B, be honest with me… Did you take anything last night? It just seems so weird to me how you could get that trashed so quickly…"

"I took a couple of Advil…" she says, and she tries her hardest to sound sincere. "I've been so stressed lately, with everything going on, and you know how nervous I was about going to the Mixer… Maybe the Advil just clashed with the champagne?"

She turns her head back and at first Serena looks suspicious, but then her facial expression changes to a more sad one. And she secretly breathes out in relief when she realizes that her friend is buying her story.

"You have to be more careful, B. You had us all really worried…"

"Us all?"

She freezes. Wasn't it enough that Cabbage Patch had been dragged into this? Who else? Didn't Serena just say that Nate said no?

"Me and Dan… and… Vanessa. She was there Blair, it wasn't much I could do. You really scared me, you know?"

She nods guiltily and pulls the covers a little tighter around her. She knows that she's scared her friend, but deep down it makes her feel good. This way she at least gets it in black and white that someone cares if she lives or dies. But why the hell hadn't Serena had the common sense to get Vanessa out of the picture? That trailer-trash girl had enough inside information in her life already after that video-tape…

Serena touches her cheek again. Runs a cool hand through her tangled hair, reminding her that she probably looks like shit. And then her beloved S whispers;

"You know you can talk to me, right? What ever it is…"

She almost laughs. How could she ever talk to Serena about the things that corrupt her thoughts? Serena would freak out on all levels. And she would never understand. So instead of answering, she looks down and realizes that she's been sleeping in Dan's sheets. And more exactly in his Football sheets? For a second she imagines Chuck's dry laugh if he saw her now. 'Princess Blair…' he would drawl. 'So far away from your 1800 thread count Egyptian cotton…'

But then she quickly closes the thought as if it was a door to a forbidden room, glad that he doesn't see her.

She's not allowed to think about Chuck Bass ever again.

She's not worthy

Monday, January 14th 2008

-c-

He sees Blair for the first time during lunch on Monday, and he leans against the school's old brick wall and inhales the smoke from his cigarette. Life is slowly turning back to normal. At least officially.

Nate and Damien are talking beside him, going over their new practice-schedule for Track and Field, and their voices float loosely in the air around him. He's not listening. Instead he stealthily glances at the girls sitting on the stairs a couple of feet away.

Blair and Serena, Kati and Is. Hazel and that little redhead… what was her name? Never mind…

Anyway, it seems to him as if Blair too is starting to be welcomed back into her social circle, probably due to Serena's never ending struggle to get Blair accepted.

She sits quiet, rested against the leg of Serena who is sitting one step higher up, and he's surprised that no one except for himself seems to think that her posture is off. Blair Waldorf never rests. She's usually stiff as a board, back straight and chin held high. She must really be slipping.

He filters out Nate's whining and strains his ears to hear the girls talk instead. Takes another drag of the cigarette just as Serena asks:

"You okay, B? You seem a little tired."

Okay, maybe he isn't the only one.

The brunette instantly straightens up and assures the blonde that she's fine, she's just not in the mood for her lunch. And Serena kindly offers her a trade. Switches Blair's lemon yogurt for her own grilled cheese sandwich, and he feels his eyes widen a bit when Blair actually takes it.

The combination of Blair Waldorf and a grilled cheese sandwich is more far fetched than imagining Carter Baizen not smoking pot.

"Chuck? Hey man, are you listening?"

He snaps around at the sound of his name and gives Nate an apologetic nod.

"Sorry, Nathaniel. What were you saying?"

He can't be caught eye-balling Blair when he and Nate are just getting back to normal. Nate is still not talking to Blair and he seems to be serious about not wanting the brunette back. But still, he's not jeopardizing anything.

And a couple of minutes later, when Nate seems to be back to just rambling about sports and he dares to steal another glance in the direction of the girls, he's even more surprised to see Blair eating that same said sandwich with an almost guilty expression on her face. It's actually the exact same expression he had seen in her features when he had first threatened to tell Nate about their little indiscretions.

For what he can see, she doesn't take more than a couple of small bites, but the guilty face lingers for long after she has given the sandwich back to Serena.

Then he sees her excuse herself and get to her feet. She says something about having to go see the headmistress about some charity event and Serena offers to come with her, but then Serena's pathetic boyfriend comes in from left field and the blonde gets caught up in a steamy make-out session instead.

"Nathaniel…" he says and throws the cigarette-butt on the ground. "I'm heading in. See you later."

Nate just nods. They obviously still have a long way to go before normal will return in other ways than just for show.

-b-

She walks fast through the corridor of Constance Billiards, makes a left behind the back stairs, and heads for the least used girls bathroom at the far end. Once she's inside, she takes a couple of seconds to scan her appearance in the big mirror over the sinks.

She looks tired but she is still perfectly in order. Headband in place; today cobalt blue to match her Louis Vuitton purse, and her make-up is subtle and pristine. Ever since having been dethroned, she's been reluctant to use the ruby-red lipstick. Not just because it smears so easily on occasions like this when her lack of self-control makes her have to throw up in secret, but also because she wants to avoid everything that draws attention to herself right now.

She's in the spotlight enough as it is after having had her dirty laundry hung out to dry in public by Gossip Girl.

She knows that she'll get her revenge on that little Humphrey skank. Little Jenny doesn't have a clue what she's dealing with. Lacking the proper upbringing and social skills from years of mingling, little J will fall down and hurt herself even at the slightest push. It'll be easy to get back her empire from her and that delusional little weasel Hazel. But for the moment she doesn't want it.

Getting her throne back means stepping up and into the light even more. Having everybody follow every step she takes. And right now it suits her fine to stay a little in the shadow. At least while she plans the demise of the backstabbers around her and gets back in her mother's good graces. And the second thing will need more than losing a couple of extra pounds.

Determined to get rid of every little piece of Serena's fat-drenched sandwich, she walks into one of the bathroom stalls and securely locks the door behind her. For a second she thinks she hears someone entering the bathroom, but after putting her ear to the door without hearing anything else, she easily empties her stomach.

Afterwards she goes back out to the mirror. She puts the headband back in place, arranges the ringlets of boring brown hair so that they fall perfectly around her face, and reapplies her make-up.

Feeling lighter and more confident, her eyes once again fall on the silvery package of lipstick at the bottom of her bag. And she hesitates for a second, but then she picks it up and dumps it in the trash-bin.

Getting back in control means giving up all her weak spots, which of course means giving up everything that reminds her of Chuck.

And Chuck used to love her ruby red lipstick.

-s-

It's past five when she returns home from school and she flops down on the bed in her still new home.

It's weird to be living with Bart Bass; she's still so used to having it be only herself, Eric and her mom. At least now when Chuck is back to living in his suite at the Palace, there's some sense of peace.

She kicks her shoes off and flips open her cell phone. Tries to call Blair again, but there's still no answer, and frankly she's a little worried about her friend. Lately she's seemed so withdrawn. Not just tense like usual, but closed off, strangely quiet and far off in thoughts.

Dan calls Blair 'snobby' and sometimes even 'bitchy' but he doesn't know her like she does. Dan hadn't been around when they were younger and Blair was her safe haven. Before their lives got complicated and when their closest circle only included them, Nate and Chuck. Back then, Blair had been happier, and she hadn't been half as controlled as she was now.

Saturday's events had really scared her, and when Chuck left the Humphrey home, she and Dan had stayed up talking. It hadn't been an easy discussion...

"I know you don't really like her baby..." she said and leaned against the kitchen counter. "Especially after the thing with Jenny... But think about it, Blair's life isn't exactly easy..."

He snorted sarcastically. "Yeah, you're right Serena. It must be hell on earth to be that rich and popular, having everybody bow at your slightest wave."

"Don't Dan... You don't know what it's like..."

He didn't answer at first. Just turned his back to her and poured the coffee he'd made into two big mugs. But then he probably thought about the fight they had about their different backgrounds, back when they first started going out, because when he turned back and held one of the mugs out to her, his face looked softer.

"You're right… I'm sorry" he mumbled, without her even having to say that he went too far. "I guess I just don't understand the 'ways of the UES elite'... Look at tonight. Blair was almost unconscious, and yet you think it's more important that no one finds out, than that she gets medical treatment." He shrugged. "What if she's not alright, huh? What if she's got alcohol poisoning?"

Even though these thoughts had already travelled through her mind, she still bowed her head in guilt. As usual, he was right, but there were things in this that he didn't know. Like for example the repercussions if people knew that a Waldorf had been wasted in public, the way Elenore would go off on Blair for this faux pas, or the fact that her friend was already pushed to the limit by the gossip about the way Nate had dumped her. It had taken a lot in order to get Blair to not run off to France, and if her state had been aired on Gossip Girl, Blair would have fled the country for sure.

"It's not alcohol poisoning" she said after a brief moment of consideration. "If it were, she would've had to drink a lot more, believe me. I think it's just the stress of everything lately. I mean, Chuck's delirious. He made it sound as if she took some kind of pre-scripted meds or drugs. Blair wouldn't do that."

"Yeah... I mean, why would she drug herself?"

Dan looked at her, seemingly even more confused, and all she could give in return was a shrug. The scary part was that a silent voice inside her head kept mumbling; "Then again...why shouldn't she?"

She had done the same thing, hadn't she? Back when she managed to get drunk off her ass and sleep with Nate behind her friend's back. Even though she hadn't gotten caught, she had still drowned her guilty conscience in booze and drugs. But the good thing with Blair – the thing that always was constant with her friend – was that Blair stayed in control. Always.

She took a step back and glanced through the open door to Dan's bedroom. Blair was curled in a tight sleeping ball on the bed but she seemed to rest easy. And she would be fine. Tomorrow morning they would laugh at this.

So why then had she been so relieved when Chuck barged in and took over, seemingly knowing exactly what to do? And why had she felt so worried when he left? Could it be because she was secretly worried that he had been right after all?

No, Chuck could shove his lies up his pompous ass. He was clearly wrong and she was after all the one that knew Blair best. It had always been that way…

And if it's up to her, it's going to stay that way. She knows Blair and she knows what her brunette friend needs. Blair needs cheering up. Some therapy big-ass shopping and drinks at Monkey Bar down by 54th and Madison. But again, the brunette is being totally out of character when not even answering her phone.

After lunch today she's hardly even spoken to Blair and she tries to remember if she had said anything about having plans tonight. It's a long-shot though, because who would Blair actually hang out with other than her? Kati, Is and the others still only talked to Blair in order to not get in trouble with her, but when she wasn't around to defend Blair, the girls still avoided her like the plague.

Had this been a month ago, then she would have considered that Blair was with Chuck. But ever since Nate found out, Chuck had avoided her best friend. She's pretty sure that some kind of 'closure' had occurred between him and Blair, some kind of fight or struggle of power, but Blair continued to refuse to spill the beads.

She flops over on her back and looks up into her newly painted ceiling. Where was that spawn of the Devil anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be 'home' for Monday-night family dinner?

She tries to call Blair one more time, but she still gets the same response;

Hi, you've reached the voice-mail of Blair Waldorf...

So she gives up and dials Dan's number instead. She'll just see Blair in the morning...

-b-

Its five thirty and she's running down 83rd street, just about to round the corner onto 5th Avenue, and she's thoroughly annoyed.

Annoyed, because Chuck Bass won't leave her alone. His car has been following her the last five minutes, ever since she came out of Central Park, and although she hasn't for a second acknowledged that she's aware of it, she would recognize that black limo anywhere. After all, the backseat of that same car has a substantial part of her total social demise.

It's January and it's cold outside but she barely notices it. She's wearing sweatpants and one of her father's old Harvard-sweaters, sunglasses safely covering her face. She's sure she looks like some Upper East Side version of Lindsey Lohan, straight out of rehab, but she doesn't care. If anyone recognized her and sent a picture to Gossip Girl, she could wave this off as ridiculous, and everyone would agree. Blair Waldorf would never be caught dead in sweatpants. Never. Everybody knows that.

But obviously Chuck has recognized her and he's dead set on making her angry enough to pull her shades off and reveal herself so that he can taint her reputation even further.

So even when the car window slides down and Chuck sticks his head out, she keeps running forward, seemingly unfazed.

"What the hell are you doing, Waldorf?"

His voice is annoyed and before she can stop herself, she says:

"Isn't that pretty obvious?"

She doesn't even look at him, just keeps running with her head held high. But she's not surprised when he doesn't give up. Chuck Bass has always been a stubborn son of a bitch.

"Seriously…" he hisses. "Just stop and get into the fucking car."

"I thought I told you not to talk to me?"

He sighs loudly and in the corner of her eye she can clearly see his annoyed eye-roll.

"Are you deliberately trying to kill yourself?" he asks in a dry tone and she finally stops. Spins around and looks at him coldly. He can't see her eyes since they're still covered by the big Bvlgari shades, but she knows he recognizes her body language.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He looks the same. The signature scarf tucked inside his Burberry coat and his hair slightly messy. Somehow he reminds her of a pouty grumpy child.

"Running, Blair? You don't eat at all anymore and now you've taken up the lowlife habit of running? Couldn't you at least have the class of exercising in a gym?"

There is a disappointed tone in his voice, one meant to be condescending, and she feels the anger build inside her. Who the hell was he to tell her what she should and shouldn't be doing? She was a Waldorf, for Christ's sake. Waldorf's had nothing but class.

"Fuck you!" she hisses back at him and goes back to her task at hand. Returns to her run, and the car goes back to slowly driving along beside her.

"Could be fun… but see, you've already done that, remember? And although I enjoy a good tumble in the sheets as much as the next guy, that is not my priority right now, okay?"

"Then what is your priority Chuck?" she asks and jogs along as if she's not the least bit bothered by him following her. "Please tell me so that we can go back to ignoring each other."

"I will, if you just stop this stupidity and get into the god damn car."

Knowing that he'll never give up she yells out in frustration and stomps her feet. Her mask of indifference is cracked at the edges anyway. Then she furiously rips the car door open and he slides over so that she can get in. She refuses to sit next to him and instead takes a seat facing her current tormentor.

"Talk!" she commands him with the poise of a queen, and he does that typical Bass-squint and watches her in silence. He doesn't do good with being told what to do. Never did.

"Listen…" he finally says. "You might be able to fool Serena and Elenore and that stupid fuckwit of a Doctor you've been seeing. But you're not fooling me. I saw you at school today. I know what you're doing…"

She rolls her eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you stalking me again? Is that it?"

On the inside she's feeling a little worried, but she'd rather die than show him that. If he was set on putting his nose in her business she would be screwed. No one dug up secrets better than him. But when he doesn't answer her, the worry soon turns into irritation and she blows out air through her nose in a frustrated manor.

"I can't read you're mind Chuck, so could you be a little more specific? Maybe actually use words instead of just looking at me like some kind of retard?"

He frowns. Another one of his typical traits.

"I know you're making yourself sick again Blair. I saw you run to the bathroom after lunch and I heard you puking you guts out. It's fucking disgusting if you ask me…"

Nothing new there, she thinks. Apparently a lot of things about her disgust him. But so far the façade stays intact.

"You followed me into the girls' bathroom?" she asks incredulously. "What the hell were you doing in the halls of Constance Billiards anyway?"

But he just looks back at her with an equally disbelieving expression on his face.

"I've just told you that I pretty much saw you shove those manicured fingers down your throat, and you are more interested in what I was doing in the wrong part of school? God, how shallow can you get?!"

That does it! Suddenly she's fuming with anger, and it feels good. A lot better than the last weeks of emptiness.

"Don't you dare call me shallow, you self-centered piece of shit! You're psychotic, you know that? You stalk me around school for god knows what purpose, and now you're making up lies about me and act like you know me? You're sick Chuck. Sick!"

"So you're saying that I'm lying then? You're saying that you weren't making yourself sick, is that it? I was just imagining things when I heard you gag and vomit this morning like some stupid bulimic loser?"

No, that's not what she's saying. Not exactly anyways, but he's not supposed to know this about her. If she has anything to say about this, he'll never know anything about her ever again. So she smirks. Viciously.

"Yes, Chuck. That's exactly what I'm saying. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

She has to get out of there so she reaches for the door handle, but his hand shoots out and grabs her wrist tight. So hard that it hurts.

"Stay put. I'm driving you home."

"Let me go! And let me the fuck out of the car, Bass."

"No."

As always, it's the struggle of titans. She glares at him and he glares back. Her wrist is still enclosed in his hand, tight enough to close off circulation, but as soon as they're out in traffic and the car is driving too fast for her to be able to just open the door and get out, he lets her go. She rubs her arm to get the blood flowing again and he leans back in the seat, watching her with his usual pompous and self-righteous attitude.

"You're an imbecile if you think I'm going to let you jog around here like some little anorectic Mary-Kate Olsen, when I know that there's a big possibility that you'll just drop to the ground at any second."

"Why do you even care?"

"I don't."

They ride in silence for a couple of minutes. She keeps her gaze out through the window but she can still feel him looking at her. She used to love having him stare at her, back during those brief weeks when they hooked up in secret. He could undress her with his eyes and make her feel more wanted than she ever had with Nate.

But now when he watches her, ever since that night in the Palace bar, it makes her feel dirty. Used and thrown to the side like an old tainted rag.

As the car finally pulls to a complete stop outside her building, she snaps her head around and looks at him coldly, and he flinches as if he wasn't prepared for her to actually meet his eyes. For a second he looks at her funny but then the usual evil is back in his gaze.

"I'll be watching you, Waldorf" he says deliberately slowly as she opens the door, and all she can get out before stepping out into the street, is a somewhat strained;

"Fuck off…"

-c-

When the limo leaves the sidewalk, he leans back into the seat and sighs. It's tiring to be angry at Waldorf. So tiring…

But right now anger is all he can feel. How the hell could Blair be so fucking stupid?

He's not totally oblivious to the past, and even though Blair and Serena might think that Blair's case of bulimia a couple of years back is a well kept secret, he has known all along. Even Nathaniel knows but the guy had chosen to stay blind.

And after today, when he clearly heard princess Waldorf barfing her insides out, he's kind of faced with a dilemma. He knows that he should tell someone about this, but who?

Elenore Waldorf? Please. The woman practically sees him as a pest. If it weren't for his father's wealth, he would probably not even have been allowed to socialize with Blair in the first place. And he's pretty sure that Dorota wouldn't let him in anyway after what he told Blair that night in the bar. That old lady had a sixth sense for when people hurt her little brown-haired doll.

Serena would be the logic choice, but the blonde wouldn't believe a word coming out of his mouth at the moment. After spending a week in the same household with the girl, he's had enough with fighting with her. If she didn't even believe him when he said that he wasn't the one who sent her the kinky gifts, then the odds of her believing anything about Blair is less than zero.

And Nathaniel? The mere thought of telling Nate makes him laugh out loud, making his chauffeur look at him funny in the rear-view mirror. First of all, Nate wouldn't do shit, since currently he's giving Blair the cold shoulder. And on top of that; if he told Nate that Blair might be sick again, then he would also have to explain how he knew this, effectively giving away that he's been keeping an eye on the brunette. The fragile truce between him and Nathaniel was built on the fact that he stayed away from Blair…

It's getting dark now and as the limo turns left on its way back to the Palace hotel, he gets ready for yet another night where he'll be having room-service dinner and a scotch in front of some lame TV-show.

It's been weeks since he's taken a random girl to his suit. But it has nothing to do with Waldorf.

It has nothing to do with the fact that he held his breath when she stepped out of the car earlier so that her scent wouldn't haunt him all night like it had last Saturday. Nothing to do with that he still looked for her in school at lunch, ready to go sit with her, until he realized that they weren't even friends now. And most of all, it had nothing to do with his inability to think of anything but her when he crawled into bed at night, unless he was really drunk.

The limo stops at a red-light, and he sees Serena and her stupid lover-boy kiss at the street corner. He's still not sure why he hates Blair the way he does. If it's because she woke up the stupid butterflies that he hadn't known even existed, or if it's because she told him to murder them without even as much as a raised eyebrow.

What he does know though, is why he hates Brooklyn-boy so much.

He has a good five seconds to watch Dan and Serena kiss before the light turns to green, and his stomach turns in jealousy. That was what he had wanted; the possibility to be the one that Blair cared most for, just like Serena did with Dan. Just to be standing in a street-corner kissing as if nothing else mattered.

He hates Dan because the stupid loser is loved. Not only by Serena, but obviously by his family as well. And after having been moved back into room 1812, he knows that the odds of ever being part of the Bass-Van der Woodsen family is slim.

But who cares, right? Who cares if his dad is an ass, his stepsister hates him and he's just not born to be loved like a stupid guy from Brooklyn?

And who cares if Blair is puking her guts out? It's not his problem.

He steps out of the car outside of the Palace, but after waving Michael off, he doesn't walk towards the elevators. Instead he makes a sharp right and heads for the bar.

Although he's not sure that the usual amount of over-prized whiskey will help tonight.

When it comes to Blair Waldorf, he's not sure it helps at all.

..--..


Author's note: This was all for the second chapter. A little build-up as you can see. Since this world of Gossip Girl is still pretty new to me, feel free to PM me if you have questions or if I've made mistakes. Love you all /Lynn

Stefyboh – Stefy hun, am I your best friend now? ;) I'm sorry that your favourite part got moved to chap 3 but I hope this is okay as well. Love you babe, and you know it. As always, a HUGE thank you for helping me the way you do.

Screwwithmyhead – Kat, thank you for test-reading and giving me valuable insights. :D You rock.

Chairforever – thank you. The Blair/Chuck dynamics isn't easy to uphold but I will try my very best. I hope you keep reading.

Fairyfootsteps – LOL, dysfunctional is certainly the right way to describe CB's relationship. Thank you so much for your review, it made me happy.

Krola – the change of point of view will remain like this. :D I feel like it's needed in order to look into everyone's mind. And no, Blair still doesn't know... Thanks for your review.

Ella – I will continue, to the very end of this fic. LOL thank you.

Blood Red Kiss of Death – And NOW it's updated :D Thanks for the review.

Papillonbelle – I love the metaphor in your review. I almost wish I had come up with it ;). Maybe if i'm nice you'll let me use it? Thanks for your support.

Fallen Heart – Still interesting? ;) Thanks for the review.

Missscarlettbelle – You're awestruck and I'm blushing :D Thank you so much.

Katie76842 – Thank you :D

Gleechild – Sharon, that meant a lot, because even though I'm new at writing Gossip Girl stories, I've realized that you're a wellknown CB-writer. I humbly bow :D Thank you.

KateWoods – Chuck is my favourite. I'm working hard on my Blair-skills ;) Thank you for the review.

Maigu – He really doesn't want to, but who's he gonna tell? ;) Thank you.

BringBackSummer – I am continuing it. :D And I plan on finishing it too. Thanks for the support and I hope you keep reading.

LoveItxoxo – I'm so glad you like my characterization of Blair and the eating disorder-storyline. And we seem to share the exact same view of Nate. LOL Chuck is the hero in my thoughts and I hope to keep making his character justice. I really hope you keep reading this story, and super thanks for your review. It totally made me smile.

Actec18 – Here was a little bit more :D I hope you liked it. Thank you so much for your review.

Jeytonbrucasnaley – Cheyenne... I should triple thank you, baby. Thank you for listening to my repetitive rambling about CB even before I posted the first chapter of this. Thank you for your important insight on the missing scene, and thank you for the continuous support you always give me. You're a gem, babe. REALLY.

D R O W N-I N-S E Q U I N S – thank you so much! Amazing huh? Aww I'm blushing...

amomentintime3 – I loved your review and I'm glad that you liked the dynamic in the first chapter. I'm aware that it might have not been as strong in this chapter, but I'm working on it ;).

.x.imagine.x. – Is this soon enough? :D Thank you for your review.

LoVeElle – It is my first Gossip Girl fic (unless you count my smutty one-shot) LOL, but I do have several BL stories in the One Tree Hill section. I'm glad that you think Chuck was in character. I love the way he's assy on the show, but still sweet in a weird way. Thank you for reviewing.

dazzledlight – Wow that review you gave me was awesome. And you wrote a fic where Blair has an eating disorder? I really have to check that out. I can't tell you what will happen but I can promise you that Blair won't die. Thanks for your review and I hope you keep reading.

Pokey – thank you for that. I feel proud when you say that my chuck-characterization is good. :D

ms metaphor – I'm so glad that you like my chuck. It's not so easy to show how he feels towards Blair, but I think you're totally on spot with hate/love. Thank you for your review, it made me happy.

Literati and naley forever – Aww you totally make me blush with that awesome review. It's still a bit new to me with these characters since I'm used to OTH's Brooke and Lucas, but I'm doing my best and I hope to keep you as a reader. :D Thank you so much.

liddle.girl.lucy – Lucy, it's funny that you think the chapter was long since according to my other stories; this was a short chapter LOL. I'm so glad you liked it though, and I hope that you will keep on liking it. Thank you.

Brookebynature – Gracie baby! You keep updating at a speed where I don't even have time to review. And you have no idea how glad I am that you approve of this fic. (Í was a little worried lol). I hope I can keep you interested even though this chapter weren't as drama-filled. And you should totally log on to msn more often. I miss talking to you.

Savannah – I'm keeping it going. To the end LOL. Thanks for your review.

Ollywood3 – No, it's not a one-shot :D And if I know myself correctly, probably even a longer story than the 10 chapters I've planned for it to be. I loved your review and I really hope you'll stick around for the rest of the ride.

doodles – Aww thank you so much. I hope I didn't make you disappointed with this then. Thanks for your review.

Ramses-Lives – Thank you. ;) I'm so glad you like it.

Sixte3n Candl3s – I'm so glad you think so. Now, let's hope I can keep the brilliance up. :D Thanks for the review.