Chapter 5

After Chuck waved Nate off in the cab he took a deep breath before heading back inside in search of Serena. Already having an idea of a plan he smiled and greeted people as he looked around and found her at the bar with what was obviously not her first drink of the night. "Still the same old Serena Van Der Woodsen." he thought to himself as he made his way over, walking through a group of three girls with a simple, "Move, please."

He took a seat on the bar stool beside her with a smirk and a soft, "I love this town."

Serena looked over at him, her eyes glazed over a bit but still aware of her surroundings, as she rolled her eyes after recognizing who took the seat beside her. She took a deep breath and pushed her hands through her hair as Chuck continued to talk.

"I'm going to have to tell my father that the hotel he just bought is serving minors," Chuck shakes his head in mock sadness before looking over at Serena.

"And if you get a drink, they're also serving pigs," Serena retorts as she rests her head on her hand, not making a move to leave her spot.

Chuck smirks, not impressed with the comeback from the blonde, since it what has been said about him since the 7th grade when he became the persona that is Chuck Bass. He patronized her with a grin and a response, "Oooo, I love it when you talk dirty."

"You just love it when a girl talks to you," Serena states as she sits up from the bar a bit.

"Actually, I prefer them when they're not talking," Chuck says with a shrug as he watches Serena finish up her current martini; he begins to feel a bit bored with their banter as he thinks to himself, "it's just not the same as when I banter with Waldorf. It's almost like when I have these sessions with Nathaniel, and I feel that I have to use smaller words in order to keep it going."

"Mmm, I've missed your witty banter," Serena responds softly as she puts her glass down as she looks behind the bar at the wall.

Chuck, sensing an opening for the real reason that he was there, nods and states, "Let's catch up," not wanting to draw her suspicions on his hidden agenda and wishing to savor this moment, Chuck adds, "…take our clothes off, stare at each other…"

Serena scoffs at his implication, not at all suspicious, "How about I just get a bite to eat. I've been drinking on an empty stomach."

Chuck frowns a bit in confusion, taking in the information as he clarifies, "Heard you didn't do that anymore…"

Serena simply shrugs as she looks over at him, "Special occasion."

"Oh," Chuck nods in mock understanding as he looks away and decides move them to somewhere more private for their conversation. He offers, "Well, how about a grilled cheese with truffle oil. You do love truffles."

Serena looks at him, a bit surprise that he remembered that she did, in fact, love truffles, and responds, "Enough to know it's not on the menu."

"Good thing I'm connected," he says bluntly as he reels her into his trap.

Serena looks down at her drink and finishes it off before deciding to go ahead and accept with a slap to the top of the bar and a slight spin of her chair she stands up. A bit unstable, but she manages to catch herself as Chuck reaches out to break her fall a bit. She pushes his hand away as she responds, "Only because I'm hungry."

Serena walks away, unaware of Chuck as he rolls his eyes and thinks to himself, "I do have some standards Serena, you're not that desirable." He follows after her slowly, making sure that she doesn't fall and hurt herself or others, and leads her to the kitchens in the back.

After getting her set up with her sandwich, Chuck gives the head chef, Alfonzo, a very impressive tip, "Alfonzo, you're set. Now, have a good night, we're closing the kitchens early." Alfonzo just grins thinking that Mr. Bass was going to have some fun with his lady friend; when in reality that was the farthest from the young heir's mind.

Chuck watches as everyone leaves and makes his way over to Serena, standing in front of her as she takes another bite of her sandwich; looking as if she hasn't eaten in days as she exclaims, "Oh my god, this is so good!"

"Well if you're looking for a way to thank me I've got a couple of ideas," Chuck responds out of habit as he undoes his jacket button, leaning against the nearby table.

"It's a sandwich Chuck," Serena states as she takes another bite.

Chuck decides to up the game a bit and leans closer, putting his hand on her knee with a smirk on his face. Serena pushes his hand away with a laugh as she wipes her hands with a napkin, "This is, nu uh, no, this is not going to happen right now." She moves to stand up, but Chuck's next words causes her to pause.

"You worried about Nate finding out?"

She looks at him quizzically, not knowing where he's going with his question, but hoping that he doesn't go where she fears he is, "What?"

"Last year, the Sheppard wedding…You think I don't know why you left town?" He smirks as he continues to talk, loving the look of fear in her eyes, "Best friend and the boyfriend…that's pretty classy, S. I think you're more like me than you'd admit."

"No…No that was then," Serena tries to explain as she looks away from him, feeling herself become more overwhelmed with her fear that Chuck would tell Blair, "I'm trying to change."

Chuck purses his lips as she finishes speaking, figuring that he could play this game a bit longer when he hears his phone go off, alerting him that he's received a text message.

Chuck took out his phone and saw that it was from Blair with just three simple words: I need you.-B.

He responded quickly with: I'll be there in ten minutes, text me the room #-C.B.

Chuck straightens up from his position beside Serena and gives her a smirk, a smirk that showed that he knew that he had her in his pocket to use or destroy later. Not wanting to linger too long, having an idea of what happened with Blair and only imagining what she could be about to do he says offhandedly, "Now, if you'll excuse me, a sexy brunette is in need of my services that only I can provide. Don't worry though; this conversation is far from over." Chuck leaves with a smirk at Serena, leaving her there with her misery and fear, and heads out of the bar with a purpose; anxious to get to Blair, and barely noticing that homeless kid walking into his hotel as he walks out.

And just when B and S built a bridge it all had to come crashing down. But dry your eyes, the kiss on the lips party is around the corner and you know who loves parties? Gossip Girl

xoxo

Blair sat with her robe open on the bed, looking around her at the room she'd put together for the night with tears in her eyes. It had been about ten minutes since she texted Chuck when she heard a knock on the door. Hoping against hope that maybe it was Nate, back to beg for her forgiveness or to fight for her, she opened the door, only to release a sob at who she saw. The only one that she would allow to see her tears: Chuck Bass.

Chuck pressed his lips together as he shut the door behind him quickly and pulls her into his arms, giving her a firm hug. Taking in all the effort she put in for this event as he leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

"You know, you didn't have to go through so much trouble, I'm a sure thing," He teases lightly wanting her to stop crying. She scoffs against his chest as she lays her head against it, giving him a soft hit, finally able to pull herself together.

"He told me. He came through that door, looked at me and said that he needed to talk to me. I thought-I thought that I could pretend that it didn't happen as long as it wasn't confirmed. That as long as they kept silent, I wouldn't know for sure so I could have my life back…" Blair explained sadly as she looked up at him.

Chuck nodded in understanding before whispering, "Don't ask, don't tell and it'll be like it didn't happen." Blair nods as she looked up at him, thankful when she doesn't see an ounce of judgment or pity in his eyes in regards to her delusions.

He smirks at her playfully, "How very Upper East Side of you." He wipes her cheek, gently wiping away a stray tear before taking her hand in his and leads her over to the bed to sit down. "Well, we knew it was going to come out eventually, didn't we?"

Blair nods half-heartedly, "For a moment, I thought that it wouldn't. That…But what does it matter, it's out now, Nate's gone, probably off to find Serena and declare his undying love for her!" Blair felt her anger at the situation grow more and more. "It just figures, she comes back to town and everything is just handed to her as if she never left at all. Next she'll try to take my crown."

Chuck shakes my head, "Then don't let her. You've already shown her who is Queen, now show her what happens to those that dare to cross said Queen." He squeezes her gently to him in encouragement.

"You're right. This is my town and this is my school; I'm not going to let her just take it away from me and she deserves to punished for the things that she has done. She was supposed to be my best friend and she broke the most important rule of all. Now she has to pay the price," Blair nods firmly as she makes her decision. "I'm done with her."

She looks over at Chuck as he smirks in approval; she found herself smirking back for a moment before she releases a sigh, wrapping herself up in her robe. "I don't want to go home tonight, but I don't want to stay here either…" She looks around at all that she did to make this night perfect.

"Well, lucky for you, I know a place." Chuck says with a smile.

Blair frowns, "I hope they've recently changed the sheets, I have no wish to catch an STD."

Chuck grins, "Don't worry, Waldorf. I wouldn't dream of putting you through that after the night you've had. Go get dressed and we'll get out of here."

Blair stands up without another word and goes into the bathroom to change back into her clothes from earlier, she pauses and looks back at him, still on the bed, "Thank you, for coming." She shuts the door behind her without waiting for his response.

"I always will, Waldorf," he says softly, more to himself than to her. He begins the process of blowing out all the candles and cleaning up the room as he waits for her to come out.

xoxo

Blair woke up with the feel of an arm wrapped around her waist, the feel of a firm chest pressed against her back and the sound of her phone ringing in the background. The arm lifts from her waist and reaches over to the nightstand, lifting up the phone to show that it was Nate.

Blair frowns and looks at the clock on the same nightstand, realizing that it was 11 am and it was the day of her party, which meant she was running behind schedule. She bolts up from the bed and takes the phone from the hand and answers, "Hello?"

"Hey, Blair." Nate greets, sounding nervous. Blair looks over at Chuck beside her as he stretches out with a yawn, not sure what to think of Nate's call.

"Hey, what's up?" She stands from the bed and begins to gather her things, mentally going over the list of things she needed to do before she could even hope to start getting dressed for the party tonight. She freezes when she hears a knock on the front door and looks again over at Chuck.

Chuck simply stood up, already knowing who it is, and goes to open it, revealing Dorota with a bag of fresh clothes for her young charge.

"I was wondering if you had time to meet with me for lunch. I really need to talk to you about last night," Blair vaguely heard Nate's words as she beams in gratitude at Chuck for arranging to have Dorota come so she can avoid taking "the walk of shame".

She takes the bag and heads to the bathroom quickly as she responds, "I don't think there's much left to discuss, Nate. And I'm already running late with these last minute details."

"Please? It's important…" Nate begs.

Blair nods and decides to throw him a bone, feeling that the outfit that Dorota brought will do quite nicely for her first sighting of the ex. "Fine, Nate. I'll meet you for lunch in an hour?"

She heard Nate sigh in relief before responding, giving her the name of a sushi place to meet up. She hangs up after saying her goodbye and quickly gets dressed.

Not too long later she comes out, satisfied with how she looks as she gives Dorota the bag of clothes from the previous day with a "thank you, Dorota", a list of things needing done, and a quick dismissal.

Chuck gives her a look of appreciation before asking, "So, what did Nathaniel want?"

Blair sighs as she picks up her purse and takes a seat, figuring with Dorota running errands for her she can afford the time to talk, "He wants to meet up for lunch, saying that there's something he needs to say in regards to what happened last night."

"Maybe he's wants to try to be cordial?" He offers by way of explanation as he begins to make himself an energy shake, mentally going over everything that he needs to get to prepare for the party tonight.

"Maybe…It would be good for my strategy for him and I to be on good terms, maybe I can use that later to drive a wedge between him and…her," Blair plots.

"Always looking at the bright side aren't you, Waldorf," Chuck smirks at over at her as he pours his finished shake into a glass and begins to drink it as comes back to the couch beside her.

"It has its benefits, Bass. Thank you again, by the way," she says as she leans against the back of the couch.

"For what?" Chuck asks as he drinks his shake.

"For last night, Tiffany's…all of it. Although I have to say, I can never cease to be surprised at the fact that you're a cuddler." She smirks at him as she teases.

"Only for you, Waldorf," he shrugs, glad to see his friend in better spirits then she was last night. "We're all taking my limo tonight, right?"

Blair nods with a smile, "Speaking of, I need to head out." She stands up and heads to the door, calling out to him as she opens the door, "Catch you later, Bass."

Chuck smiles as she leaves, sitting there alone with his shake. Making a mental note that he has more than earned a night of debauchery tonight at this party after all the good friend deeds he has performed. The last thing he needed was people thinking that he was losing his touch.

xoxo

Nate sits alone at the table as he waits for Blair to come; he decided to show up a little earlier than planned, his conversation with his father, from this morning after their run, still running through his head after he broke the news that he and Blair broke up.

"Blair's a great girl," his father said to him.

"I know, I'm just not sure if she's the right girl for me…I just think it will be good for us to take a break right now," Nate explained.

His father then had this look on his face that he had seen before when he started to talk about Dartmouth and his future, "Maybe not right now."

Confused, Nate follows after him as his father walked away, waiting for an explanation for his father's words.

"Eleanor Waldorf is gearing up to take her company public. Now, I've been courting her for months to let me handle the deal," the Captain begins to explain.

"Then you should get it," Nate states as if it's obvious.

"I will get it. If you just help me out a little bit," he asks. Nate gives him a look as if to ask if he was serious with what he was asking of him.

"What?" the Captain asks like it's no big deal, "You love her, she loves you; it's just a rough patch that's all! You don't give up just because things get hard. Not in business…or if your family is depending on you."

Nate shakes his head, hoping to clear it and forces a smile on his face as he sees Blair walk into the restaurant and takes a seat across from him, "Hey, thanks for coming."

She gives him a polite smile as the waitress comes to take their food and drink order. Blair tries to provide polite conversation as was her breeding as they wait for the food to come. Figuring that he wants to wait till then before he starts to say what he so desperately wanted to say after last night.

As she sat there waiting for him to speak, she couldn't bring herself to actually eat the food in front of her. He finally says something after about 15 minutes of silence between them, "Thanks for meeting me."

Figuring that she doesn't have to necessarily play nice at this point she just lifts her eyebrows at him and goes back to playing with her food.

He continues on, "Look Blair, I really hurt you. I know that, and I want to fix it."

Blair takes a bite of a snow pea pod, figuring that she couldn't go wrong with vegetables, as she looks up at him at his words. A bit surprised, but not wanting to get her hopes up she responds, "Really? And how are you going to do that?" She takes a sip of her water as she waits to see how he was going to play this.

"I want to put everything in the past. I'm not going to see Serena again or even talk to her. It'll be like she doesn't exist," He offers to her.

Blair pauses, even more surprised than she was earlier that he didn't in fact run to Serena last night. "Maybe he really does want to be with me. Maybe he does love me and only told me last night because he didn't want to start this next chapter of their lives based on a lie..."she thinks to herself. "And since he offered to never see or speak to Serena again I won't have to demand it, making it easier to push Serena completely out of our circle."

She puts on a happy smile and accepts his offer, "I think that's a good idea. Let's not mention it again." She reaches over with her chopsticks for a few of his carrots on his plate, asking, "You going to eat that?"

Nate just looks at her as if he couldn't believe that it was that easy, "That's it? Cause, you were pretty upset last night, I mean…shouldn't we talk about this?"

Blair simply laughs it off with, "There's nothing to talk about. I overreacted." She shrugs lightly as she takes a bite of the food that she took from Nate's plate before continuing, "You say it's in the past, it's in the past. I'm sure you have no feelings for her anymore."

Nate felt relief until her last sentence; it showed him that although she's willing to move forward he knew deep down that it's going to take some time to get back in her good graces.

Blair throws in, playing her part as a good friend, "I just feel bad for Serena. She really missed you." She looks up at him asking, "What time does the limo arrive?" Taking a few more bites of her food as she begins to wrap up their lunch and checks her watch.

"Eight," he states as he tries to understand her complete 180.

She smiles as she swallows her food, "Perfect. I'll see you tonight then." She stands up from the table and gives his shoulder a gentle squeeze before leaving him at the restaurant; taking her phone out of her purse to send a text to Chuck about the new development, very happy with how her lunch date went.

A/N: So, what do you think? :D Next chapter is going to be all about the Kiss on the Lips party! Hope you liked this chapter, because I had a few emotional moments while I wrote it. No attempted rape scenes in my story. I don't like it and other than the pilot Chuck never attempts something like that again as far as it's mentioned. So, I treat it like I treated him riding the city bus, or him mentioning his parents when for the rest of the series he only has his father, it just didn't happen. lol

I want to send a huge thank you to my reviewers and my new and old followers and favoriters ;) as well as my beta EvelynBass. Be sure to check out her fic Return Someday.

This week's recs: When in Doubt, Blame the Singer's Girlfriend by RRose Bella Swan - rock band New Moon's lone female guitarist - has always loved front man Edward Cullen and always hated his slut of a girlfriend. He's been blind to her feelings before, but things are about to change as soon as New Moon's world tour starts. (twilight fanfic)

The New Assistant by TheBagelBug Louis has a new assistant. She's making friends with Rachel. She teases Mike. And worst of all she's making Harvey seem like he...cares. Ha! As if that were possible... Harvey/OC plus some Mike/Rachel going on in the background. (This was my very first Suits fanfic and I just absolutely loved it! And don't worry it's complete :D)

The Reluctant Lady Bass by FrozenandYetNot It changed from her perfect dream to her worst nightmare - Blair Cornelia Waldorf is jilted at the altar by the one she loved all her life and now has to wed the one man she never met but always scorned-AU Chair with slight D/S/N (This is not complete, but I'm hoping if I draw more attention to it the author will be inspired to finish it because it's a great story so far :D)

I plan to post the next chapter next week, but who knows I may post it sooner just because I love you guys because it's already written! It was a three day weekend for me, so I spent it writing, so I'm ahead of schedule and I even started Chapter 7! So now i'm at conundrum of either posting early or making you all wait till next week...hmmm ;D Don't forget if you have a story you're writing or you've read something feel free to PM me a rec, I'm always looking for something to read.

Love you all!

-Plei4fun