Chapter 7

Good Morning Upper East Siders, I bet your wondering what Gossip Girl is doing up so early. Truth is I never went to bed. Why waste precious time dreaming when waking life is so much better? Is there anything better than a lazy Sunday? Reading the paper in bed, sipping coffee, scrambling an egg or two? Yeah, right! We Upper East Siders don't do lazy. Breakfast is brunch and it comes with champagne, a dress code, and a hundred of our closest friends…and enemies.

Chuck Bass's dad Bart is hosting the annual Sunday brunch for his foundation. Everyone is invited. Well…not everyone ;)

You know you love me

Gossip Girl

Blair came down from her bedroom after brushing her teeth and washing her face for the day. Still feeling irritated with Serena for crashing her party last night. "How dare she come after I made it clear she wasn't invited?! As far she knows she and I were good and yet she pulls this stunt anyway?" she thought to herself.

Upon arriving at her sitting room in her pajamas and silk robe half open, she sees that her minions are up and reading the society pages for the day. She mentally decides to make sure that they don't even think of approaching Serena, she was officially excommunicated. There's nothing wrong with securing loyalties.

"Serena had better just stay away," she said firmly as she looked over the dress that her mother had left for her to wear to the Bass Brunch this afternoon. There was a note on it stating that she was off to Paris and to be sure to wear pearls with it too.

Blair thanked Dorota as she saw her polish maid set out her morning coffee and a light breakfast for her and her minions out of the corner of her eye as she read the note.

"Yeah thanks!" Kati said excitedly as she took a plate for herself.

"We love sleeping at Blair's because of this!" Iz added as she picked up her own plate as well.

"I don't even want to see Serena at school and she better not show up at brunch today," Blair continued on her tirade as she picked up the Eleanor Waldorf original and gave it a cursory glance.

Iz looked up from her food a bit surprised, "You're really mad at Serena…"

"Yeah, I hope you'll never be that mad at us," Kati added as she looked over at Blair thinking, "If Serena wasn't safe from Blair's wrath, who is?"

"Well you would never do what Serena did," Blair stated as she looked over at her minions for confirmation, letting them believe that the reason for her wrath is because Serena simply crashed her party without permission.

"No, never," Iz responded like a good soldier, shaking her head for emphasis.

"Of course not!" Kati said too as she went back to eating with a shrug as if it were obvious.

Blair pulled out her cell phone as she put the dress down, moving onto a new subject now that she declared it settled, "I wonder if Nate remembered brunch. It would be so wrong for me to show up without my boyfriend, whom I love and who loves me."

She smiled happily as she began to dial his cell phone number quickly and put her phone to her ear, waiting for him to answer. After a couple of rings he finally answers, sounding as if he was still sleeping, "Hello?"

Blair frowns at the greeting and asks in response, aware of her audience, "Hi, sweetie. Did I wake you?"

"No, I'm up," Nate responded, his eyes still closed as he lay out on the couch in Chuck's suite.

"Well, get some strong coffee and jump in the shower sleepy head. Chuck's dad's brunch foundation is today at the Palace," she finishes with a smile before hanging up with a sweet goodbye.

xoxo

"Right, of course," Nate nodded as he slowly made his way to sit up and finished the call with his girlfriend, tossing his phone onto the coffee table in front of the couch, rustling the poker chips that were piled high.

In the next room over was Chuck, sitting up in bed as he called out, "Nathaniel, keep it down! Some of us are trying to regain our strength." He slowly laid back down, resting his head on his pillow.

Nate continued to sit on the couch, running his hands over his face and through his hair before he responded, "Your dad's brunch is today."

Chuck kept his eyes closed and refused to move before saying offhandedly, "Alarm's set for 9 o'clock."

"It's 10," Nate stated as he looked over at the clock on the wall, still slow to move from his spot just yet.

At the sound of his words Chuck sighed and sat up straight in bed, scratching his head as he looked over at Nathaniel on the couch. He looked on either side of him at the two lovely ladies and clapped his hands to wake them up, "Ladies, double time!"

He quickly moved their legs off of him and made his way off the bed, "the last thing I need is another lecture from my father for being late to his event." He thought to himself.

Nate released a laugh of disbelief as he took in the fact that Chuck had two girls in bed with him who not only was he effectively kicking them out without a second thought, but they both happened to be part of the wait staff of the Palace. Chuck simply began stretching out his muscles to prepare for the day, deeming last night a success overall. He realized how rude he was being and simply offered, "Oh! Unless…Nathaniel…" motioning to both of the girls behind him as they began to dress.

Nate simply shook his head as he leaned on his propped up hand, suffering from a very bad hangover and manages to laugh a bit with a simple, "I'm good."

Chuck nods as he watches the girls walk around the room, not showing any signs that they were offended by being offered to someone else to be played with. Nate realized that he was going to need some help with this particular brand of hangover asked, "Wait, could one of you bring us some coffee when you get a chance? And some water, lots of water."

One of the girls flipped her hair out of her face as she slipped one of her shoes on, asking him a bit sarcastically, "Do you want ice with that?"

She chuckles as she made her way away from the bedroom area as Chuck, who was just coming out of the bathroom and slipping on his robe, began to speak, "That's enough talking ladies. I'll be sure to tell my father just how committed you are to the hospitality industry." He smiles his charming smile as he led both women out the door of his suite.

He watches the door close behind them, still smiling before looking over at Nate as he finally got up from the couch. He motions him over to the bar as he talks, "I'm surprised to find you here. I would have thought you would have spent the night with your girlfriend. After that girl from Brooklyn was rescued, I didn't see you for the rest of the night."

Nate took a seat at the bar with a shrug, "Why do you ask?"

Chuck began to make his morning protein/hangover cure shake as he responded simply with a grin, "Because I'm pretty sure Blair was going to have me have you killed if she couldn't find you soon enough."

"What because you kill people now?" Nat smiled at the absurdity of that statement, "Going to strangle them with your scarf?" He tosses said scarf at Chuck playfully.

Chuck just tossed the scarf aside, "Don't mock the scarf, Nathaniel. It's my signature." Not at all offended by the mocking he continues on making his drink.

"I'm just saying, Death by scarf….Not that intimidating. Especially when you compare it to that guy from last night, I heard he was Jenny's brother and if he ever found out it was you that locked her up there…I'm pretty sure that he'd do something that would require to actually needing the ice this morning," Nate grinned over at Chuck as he leaned against the top of the bar.

Chuck just shrugged, not at all intimidated at the thought of that random guy finding out about his dirty deed with a thought, "There are worse things that I could have done, he should be grateful."

Chuck puts some ice in the blender as he stated offhandedly, "Better a broken nose, than a broken heart…"

Nate's grin disappeared completely before immediately going into defense, "What? I didn't even talk to Serena last night."

Chuck paused and looked over at Nate with a smirk at catching him with his guilty thoughts, "Who said anything about Serena?" He asked as he turned on the blender after putting on the lid.

xoxo

Blair said her goodbyes to Kati and Iz before taking the dress that her mother left for her to wear to the brunch upstairs to her room to try on. She was still on the fence on if she was even going to wear it. She felt that she gave into her mother last night with the dress of her choice, so she should be free from all obligations with wearing this dress today. Besides it's not as if she was even here to say otherwise; with her jetting off to Paris early this morning.

She laid it out on her bed and made her way to her walk in closet to figure out proper undergarments to wear with it, figuring she could, at the very least, try it on and see how it looked on her. After making her selections she looked into her room at the sound of her cell phone going off, indicating that she missed a phone call. Blair made her way over to her nightstand where her phone was charging and flipped it open. She rolled her eyes and sighed at seeing that it was Serena who called about 30 minutes ago and immediately deleted the voice message without even bothering to listen to it, "It doesn't matter what it is she wants to say to me, I'm so over her." She thought as she tossed her phone to the side.

She made her way to her vanity and thought about the night before and how everything was going so well before Serena showed up with, what she later found out was, Jenny Humphrey's brother to "rescue" her. It was Jenny Humphrey's own fault; she shouldn't have started playing the game if she had no plans to follow through. There were so many worse things that Chuck could have done, but luckily for her that wasn't his style.

Blair was interrupted from her thoughts with the sound of the elevator downstairs beeping, indicating that she had a visitor. Knowing that Dorota was out to run some errands, she stood up and wrapped her robe around her body as she made her way downstairs. She was half way down when she heard Serena's voice calling for her, "Blair?"

Blair quickly schooled her face as she came down, and upon seeing her Serena immediately began talking, "Hey!"

"Serena," Blair said in a polite voice, thinking now was as good as time as ever to start the excommunication process.

"Hey, I got two bone dry caps and Audrey!" Serena smiled as she showed Blair what she brought.

Blair paused for a moment and gave her a confused look before giving a light laugh as if she forgot something before replying, "I must have totally blanked on the part where I invited you over." By the time she finished her sentence her teasing tone was gone, showing how serious she was as she took the last step off of the stairs and walked pass Serena and into the sitting room.

Serena paused as she registered Blair's words and turned towards her with a soft, "I called you," she continued on, "Blair it's Sunday morning. Coffee, croissants, Breakfast at Tiffany's…it's our tradition."

Blair picked up the society page that Kati was reading from earlier as she glanced at Serena with a bit of disdain, "I have new traditions now." She made her way over to the chaise lounge, the one that made her feel as if she was sitting on a throne when she was entertaining her minions, and got situated.

Serena refrained from rolling her eyes and tried again, "Well they're not traditions if they're new."

Blair simply shook her head lightly and began to read her paper from her seat as if to say Silly Serena. Serena reaching the end of her patience walked over to Blair and took a seat on the lounge beside her; to which Blair rolled her eyes and readjusted herself accordingly, trying to be as far away from Serena as possible.

Serena sighed as she waited for Blair to acknowledge her, not having any idea of what was going on and why Blair was giving her the cold shoulder. Not able to take it anymore she decided to find out, "Look, Blair I'm really trying to make an effort here. I thought that everything was good between us."

Blair decided to just be straight with Serena and responded, "It was. Before I found out that you had sex with my boyfriend," she stated almost nonchalantly with a light shrug and an eyebrow lift, waiting casually for Serena to continue on with the conversation.

Serena froze, not expecting that sentence to come out of Blair's mouth and she scrambled to say something to fix the mess that she created almost a year ago. Figuring that Chuck must have told her she asked, "How'd you find out?"

Blair rolled her eyes, almost disappointed in Serena's opening move thinking "What did I expect though, she obviously figured that she was in the clear", she responded, "Nate told me. At least he felt that he owed it to me to tell me the truth." She crossed her legs and laced her fingers together over her knee as she watched Serena carefully, taking note that she looked a bit surprised that Nate was the one that told her.

"I don't know what to say-," Serena began.

"Don't bother saying anything. I wouldn't have believed you anyway," Blair interrupted as she stood up from her seat with a slight sneer and walked back to the stairs leading up to her bedroom.

Serena continued to try to say something as she followed after, knowing that there wasn't anything that she could say after what she had done, "Blair it was…"

Blair slowly stopped at her words and slowly turned around towards Serena with a smile, wishing to hurt the blonde the way that she was hurt, but knew it wasn't possible in this situation so she decided to at least start making them even, "You know… I always knew you were a whore….I never took you for a liar too."

Serena took a breath before speaking, "Blair. How can I fix this?"

"You don't, Serena," Blair stated as a fact in a slight condescending tone as she gave her final blow with a narrow of her eyes, "You just stay away; from me, my boyfriend, and my friends. You're done here." She smirked with a lift of her shoulders in a "what can you do" gesture and walked up the stairs to her room.

Serena's visit was short and apparently not very sweet. But you know what is? Revenge. We hear its best served cold. Who's hungry?

Gossip Girl

xoxo

Blair was busy texting Chuck to tell him what had occurred with Serena when she heard the sound of her elevator, once again, announcing someone's arrival. "God, it's like Grand Central in this place," she thought as she stood and made her way to investigate who could it possibly be, hoping that it wasn't Serena again she called out, "Dorota, I told you I didn't want to see anyone!"

She paused as she saw a completely different blonde standing in her foyer, Jenny Humphrey. She put on a polite smile as she slowly walks towards the freshman. "Hello Jenny."

"Hi!" Jenny responded with a smile as she glanced at her surroundings, not wanting to appear rude.

Deciding she didn't have time to waste playing coy, Blair asked bluntly, "What do you want?" Keeping the polite smile on her face and keeping eye contact as she moved into the setting room and takes a seat on the same lounge that she sat on when she received her last visitor.

Jenny, a little surprised at Blair's bluntness, quickly responded as she followed after her, "Uh, I realized that I forgot to give you back your calligraphy pens from the party invitations and thought you might need them for something…," she said as she handed Blair the pens, only realizing how lame the excuse she came up with was.

Blair took them and put them beside her on the couch, not offering Jenny a seat as she listened to the girl ramble on a bit before responding with a bored tone, "That is the lamest excuse I've ever heard."

Jenny looked away, feeling embarrassed while Blair simply smirked as she came to a conclusion on the real reason why Little Jenny Humphrey was here, "You want to know what Chuck Bass was saying about you…"

Jenny tried to play it cool with a simple, "No."

Blair just continued to look at her, lifting her head a bit as she continued to smirk up at the freshman as she waited patiently for Jenny to be honest.

Realizing that she was caught, Jenny just asked what she wanted to know a bit hesitantly, "Is he? Saying things…is anyone?"

Blair tilted her head to the left as she looked up at the ceiling in thought before responding, "Hmmm, no," she looks at Jenny, almost smelling the desperation from the girl in wanting to be apart her world, but not wanting to give up everything for it just yet, as she continued on, "Not yet anyway. Chuck likes to brag about his conquests, not his victims."

Jenny frowned as she realized she fell under the second category, but doesn't say anything as she waited for Blair to say anything else that could help her. Blair paused for a moment as she remembered last night and realized what an opportunity this was for her to gain information on Jenny's brother and as well as get more intell on Serena since she's obviously seeing him.

Smiling at the thought of how she could easily use Jenny for her own personal means, Blair stood up from her seat, "Come up. You can help me get ready for brunch."

Jenny's eyes widened at this opportunity and without hesitation agreed with an, "Okay, sure," being sure to not be too enthusiastic.

Blair nodded as she patted Jenny's arm before making her way past her and up the stairs, wrapping her robe around her waist as she went. Jenny looked after her before following, wanting so much to have Blair's life and style. She looked around the room again as she walked up the stairs and saw the most gorgeous of flowers on a table, "Nice flowers," she complimented.

"They're hydrangeas," Blair responded without stopping, having no doubt that she made hydrangeas Jenny's new favorite flower.

xoxo

After making plans to meet Nate downstairs at the brunch after he came back from his place to change, Chuck received the Gossip Girl blast about Blair and her run in with Serena. He chuckled, while getting out of the shower as he imagined how well that turned out. He almost wished that he had been there to witness it for himself, there was almost nothing he loved more than to see Blair Waldorf in her element.

He texted back and forth with Blair for a while as decided on what he was wearing for the day; he always took particular care of how he dressed, not wishing to hear his father's voice of disappointment today, but knowing that it was most likely inevitable. He releases a sigh and gives a shake of his head to rid it of such melodramatic thoughts and grabs a bottle of water, knowing he's going to be in need of a drink later at this brunch.

He always hated this society type of parties, it's the reason why he had to always find some way to entertain himself at each and every one of them; whether it's through a bottle of scotch or through a willing conquest. Most cases both were needed to help him get through with a mere smirk since Nate and Blair tend to couple up.

He left his suite after making sure that it was cleaned to his satisfaction, "Just because I'm called a pig, doesn't mean I live like one," he thought to himself as he called the elevator and headed down, sliding on his dark sunglasses when it arrived.

After arriving at the lobby, he glanced around looking for Nate. Figuring he was already inside the dining room, Chuck figured he had time for quick smoke before the festivities. He walked across the lobby with ease and a smile, stepping outside he saw a figure by the front gate talking to someone and instantly recognized him as Nate. He called out, "Nathaniel! There you are. What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Nate said with a smile obviously trying to hide something, "I was waiting for you!"

Chuck smirked and glanced briefly at the guy that Nate was talking to and frowned a bit as he took of his glasses before asking, "With him?"

Dan turned around and frowned not understanding the hostility coming off this the newcomer in waves.

Chuck made a move to go over to the guy, "Who are you and what are you doing here?" It was like this guy was everywhere he turned! He thought as he started to get angry, "Seriously are you following me or something because I promise you, you're not my type." Nate stopped him from going over to the guy by holding him back.

Dan began to get irritated, "How many times do I have to tell you?! My name is Dan Humphrey, I go to your school! What is this, your hotel or something?" Trying to be clever as he motioned to the large building behind Chuck as Nate held Chuck back from him.

"Actually it is…,"Nate broke the news to the guy he had been talking to for the past five minutes before as he tried to keep Chuck back.

Dan frowned in confusion as Chuck continued on talking to him, "Yeah, so unless you have an actual reason to be here, I'm going to have to ask you to wait out on the curb with the rest of the trash."

"Trash?!" Dan responded to the insult, quick to defend himself, "Look man, I'm from Brooklyn! Not the Ozarks! No offense to the Ozarks. Don't you think we're taking this class warfare thing a bit too far?" Dan tried to reason.

For some reason this guy just irritated and disgusted Chuck to no end before he made the connection that he must be related to that Humphrey girl from last night. Suddenly it all made sense, this guy actually was beneath him and shouldn't even be near him or breathe his air. And here he was trying to act like he was even close to the same level as him just because he was Serena's current flavor of the month just made Chuck even angrier.

He snarled back as he pushed to guy away from him, "I haven't even started to take it too far!"

Nate pulled Chuck back at the sight of the confrontation getting physical, "Okay man! Let's just go!"

Chuck glared at Nate, "Don't tell me you're actually sticking up for Serena's little bitch! If anyone had a reason to kick his ass, it's you!"

Nate looked away, not letting go of Chuck as he listened, "He's not worth it," Nate explained, "Not here."

Chuck gave one last glare at Dan and reluctantly let Nate lead him away from the situation calling out, "This isn't over, vermin."

xoxo

After arriving in Blair's bedroom she had Jenny take a seat in the main part as she made her way into her closet to put on her undergarments that she planned to wear for the day; being sure to keep the conversation light before she started asking the real questions. It wasn't long until Blair grew bored with the conversation as she slipped on the dress her mother left for her to wear and came out to stand at her full length mirror that stood beside Jenny.

She turned this way and that as she took in her appearance, not happy with the dress at all as she heard Jenny's gasp, "Wow. Blair, it's beautiful! I mean…you look beautiful," Jenny tried to find the words that would please Blair as well as properly articulate what she wanted to say.

As she adjusted the dress on her, Blair sighed before responding with her critique of the dress, "Its average. The color is last season, and besides Stella McCartney has a better version of it at Bergdorf's." She rolled her eyes and unzipped herself from the dress, deciding that she couldn't possibly wear this to brunch today.

Jenny frowned in confusion as she took in Blair's words, realizing that she had so much to learn if she ever wanted to be a part of this world. She didn't have the luxury of making too many mistakes. "Right," she agreed with a forced laugh and smile, "I've been meaning to go by Bergdorf's."

Blair tossed the dress onto her bed as she slipped on another option for her to wear for the day, since she couldn't wear what her mother wished her to, as she half listened to Jenny continue on, "Wow these gowns are great," Jenny stated as she stood up from her seat to look at them on Blair's bed. "Oh my god you have a cabbage patch doll!" she exclaimed as she picked it up, "My brother used to have one of these, his name was Cedric."

Blair frowned as she finished putting on the new dress, making a mental note to put that cabbage patch away into storage before responding, "Your brother's name is Cedric?" She mocked as she looked herself over.

"Oh no, that was his cabbage patch kid," Jenny explained as Blair rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror and immediately removed the dress she just put on and began to put her robe back on. "My brother's name is Dan. Actually, you might know him…he went out with Serena last night," Jenny looked over her shoulder at Blair as she put the doll back where she found it.

Blair paused as she tied up her robe strings as if she was trying to remember "we have a name" she thought as she turned to Jenny, "That was your brother?" she asked to confirm.

Jenny nodded softly, not sure if it was a good idea to even bring him up. Blair released a short laugh as she continued on putting on her robe as she spoke, "So does that mean you're friends with Serena now?"

Jenny knew she had to be careful with her next sentence, she didn't want to make Blair mad, but she also didn't want to burn any bridges with Serena since she genuinely seemed like a nice girl, "I mean…I don't have a problem with her. But, if someone did have a problem with her, I wouldn't have a problem with that either."

Blair smiled "Smart answer, little J" she thought as she made her way to the seat that Jenny was sitting on previously, crossing her legs, "You know…if you like that dress, you can have it."

It took a moment for Jenny to process what Blair actually said before she just had to confirm what it was that she heard, "What? No, no."

"I'm sure you'll find some way to repay me," Blair insisted with a smile.

Jenny beamed and just barely stopped herself from squealing in a very non-Blair like manner before responding, "Wow, Blair. Thank you! I mean for the dress and…for the other thing, about Chuck," careful to not even bring up last night, figuring it's best to leave it in the past.

Blair rolled her eyes dramatically with a sigh, she had to admit that she saw potential in this girl. The fact that she had some standards and said no to Chuck and stood by those standards was almost admirable. Making the decision to take this poor Brooklyn girl under her wing and help her learn to fly, Blair began to speak, "If you want to be a part of this world Jenny, people will talk. Eventually. You need to decide, if all of this," she raised her hand from her lap for emphasis, "is worth it."

A/N: Okay I had a tough time changing a few things in this chapter since I took out the whole Chuck attempting to rape Jenny therefore taking out the part where lonely boy punches my Chucky lol So I made it that the source of Chuck's anger at him was because Dan kind of comes off as a social climber when you think about it. Even though he was there the whole time, no one of our fabulous foursome actually knew who he was, effectively making him come out of nowhere and now here he is dating Serena and is now everywhere, talking to them as if he has any right to? Hopefully you guys will accept my explanation or at the very least it makes sense. Either way, tell me what you think! :D

I am amazed at the feedback and the following and alerts for this story and honestly, it makes me so happy that you guys just keep coming back for more. I'm aware of how slow the store is going in regards to getting to our beloved Chair, but don't worry, with Serena back and Nate with his obvious love handles it's going to make our Blair realize that Chuck treats her better without even realizing he's doing it and Chuck will be starting to feel those butterflies soon too. Let's just say that these two may not be able to wait until the limo to get started on their ship ;)

Recs: It's just Me and You Now by Emiiily What if Luke and Lorelai had met ten years earlier, in 1985? (A Gilmore Girls Fanfic and completed)

Silent tears by A Proud Freak Isabella and Edward are forced into a marraige in 1918. They haven't met each other but, they both know the marraige is not going to work. Because of a tragic accident they both think the other one is dead. But after a century their paths reunite again. (Twilight Fanfic and completed)

You don't See me by alissa-jackie AU. "Before there was 3 words 8 letters. There were 2 words 10 letters. Two Separate names. Each 5 letters long. Chuck and Blair. Close comrades since they were conceived in the womb." C & B grew up together, but then Chuck left. What happens when he shows up fourteen years later at Blair's engagement party? (Gossip Girl fic and In progress)

And don't forget about my beta's, EveylnBass, story, Return Someday which I happen to Beta for because it's just wonderful!

See you guys next week and I love you!

-Plei4fun