Chapter 15

Blair stood in front of her mirror in her room, fully dressed for the evening and feeling completely numb after the bomb that was dropped onto her lap not even a few hours earlier by Jenny Humphrey. She could hear the Captain, Anne, and Nate downstairs having just arrived, but she still couldn't bring herself to move. She thought about calling Chuck earlier, but she didn't want to add her problems on top of his after his rejection from Bart.

As Blair stared at herself in the mirror, she couldn't help but feel odd. She couldn't put her finger on what it was until a minute later. The pain that she felt, wasn't nearly has heart wrenching as it was when Chuck told her that Nate cheated on her, or even when Nate himself told her about a year later. She frowned in confusion at this realization; her pride was hurt, most definitely, and she was embarrassed that she was told by a freshman that her boyfriend had feelings for someone else. And she did feel genuine pain that Nate had lied to her and instead of ending it, he kept on with this charade of a relationship…for what?

Blair didn't know, but she wanted to get to the bottom of this because this could not go on as it was. She could not go on like this. With this decision made, Blair turned and started heading down to greet her mother's guests with a sense of calm as she was soothed by the pianist that her mother hired for the night as she made her entrance, but was unable to even form a polite smile at first.

It was Nate, of all people, that noticed her arrival and he immediately did what was expected of him and came to Blair's side, speaking softly with a smile that she used to love so much, "Hey. You look beautiful tonight."

Half-heartedly Blair smile as she looked at him, still trying to figure out this puzzle. Nate wasn't a malicious person. He didn't enjoy hurting people, so why would he hurt her this way? In a way dooming Blair to a life similar to her mother's, married to a man who was in love with someone else. Blair forced herself to focus when Nate asked her, "Anything on your mind?"

Blair blinked before responding with a lie, "No. Is there anything you want to say?" She asked, giving him this last chance to come completely clean with her. It most likely wouldn't save their relationship but it would at least save them to possibly have some form of friendship when this was over. Realizing her train of thought, Blair almost missed his answer of no with a shake of his head. She really was actually going to break up with him.

After all they had been through to come to this point where he was still lying to her face and keeping secrets from her, but then again she kept her fair share of secrets from him too. Nate was oblivious to her problems and the thoughts that plagued her in regards to school and her social standing at school. He knew a little, but Blair never got the feeling that he actually was listening when she spoke. He wasn't a fan of her scheming tendencies and was always voicing his disapproval when she made the mistake of telling him about a particularly satisfying takedown.

But all that was small things, it wasn't as if she kept a secret in regards to her feelings for him! Blair tried to justify to herself as they went to their parents and they took a seat for dinner. Blair made a small attempt to join the conversation but found herself completely wrapped up in her thoughts in regards to her and Nate's relationship. Could she really even pretend to be surprise though? She saw the way Nate would look at Serena when he thought no one was paying him any attention and Chuck saw it too, but that was before the secret came out; when she thought they were starting over back when he gave her the ultimatum after Sunday Brunch all those weeks ago.

Chuck…her best friend of the past year who, until then, was only a scheming partner and a friend of her boyfriend's that was always around. He was always honest with her, whether she wanted to hear it or not, her mind flashed to when she called him after her big fight with Serena at that fashion shoot. He knew all of her secrets and didn't judge her for them, but chose to always be there when she needed him. Blair shook her head clear of her thoughts as everyone stood to go into the sitting room for dessert and after dinner champagne.

Blair forced a smile on her face as the Captain stood up to make a toast, "We've celebrated the partnership, but I don't think we've given Eleanor her just due. This lady is fantastic."

Blair thought the Captain was rubbing it in pretty thick, considering that he already had the deal and obviously Eleanor thought so too as she replied, "Oh, well, uh, thank you, Howard. More cheese? Have you tried the Humboldt fog? It's quite good."

When the Captain shook his head and took a sip from his glass, still standing up and almost leaning over Eleanor, Anne cut in, "Eleanor's right. Enough business talk."

Nate's dad stood up straight and nodded in agreement, "Right. Let's focus on our families' other joint venture, the union of our children," as he looked over at her and Nate, Blair found herself frowning in disapproval at the way he was acting as she set down her glass of wine as he continued on, "I have to say, every time I look at Anne's finger and see Blair's future engagement ring…I can hardly contain my joy. Blair, why don't you try it on?" He offered with a sniff of his nose.

Blair did not need this now. It didn't seem right nor fair to try on something that she was never going to get to have. She forced a light laugh and a smile as she spoke, "No, thank you. It's all right."

Eleanor, of course, insisted, "Yes, I would like to see it."

To which the Captain bluntly said to Anne, "Anne, give it to Blair."

Nate finally said something, "Dad, she doesn't want to try on the ring."

"Howie, why don't we just let it alone?" Anne added in agreement with her son.

Blair watched the three of them speak, sensing the tension building rapidly as the Captain said forcefully, yet still polite in front of others, "Just give it to the girl, Anne."

Blair took a deep breath as Anne made her way over to her and handed the Vanderbilt diamond ring to Blair as Nate's father kept talking with a chuckle, "Eleanor, do we have another bottle? If there was ever an occasion for the toast, this is it. They're gonna make such a beautiful couple. Now come on. Slide that thing on."

With everyone watching, Blair smiled politely as she slid the ring onto the appropriate finger. It felt as if it didn't sit right. Don't get Blair wrong, the ring was gorgeous, but it was like she didn't see it as her potential ring as she once thought. It didn't belong to her, just like Nate didn't belong to her either. She sighed as she showed everyone how it looked as Nate seemed completely focused on his father.

Howard exclaimed loudly, "That's what I'm talking about, huh?"

While Eleanor sighed and whispered, "Oh, it's very pretty."

Unable to have it there for much longer as the Captain continued to ramble on about how great it looks Blair took the ring off her finger carefully and handed it back to Anne with a smile, "Thank you." Blair's smile slowly ebbed away as Anne went back to her seat and the Captain, who obviously was on something, was telling everyone to drink up.

She looked over at Nate as he stood and offered, "Dad, why don't we go smoke the cigars we got, huh?" At his father's agreement the two quickly left, leaving Blair alone with the mothers with even more questions on what in the world was going on with the Archibald family.

xoxo

As Chuck sat in the front seating section reserved for him and his group, the best seat in the house, with a glass of scotch sitting on the table in front of him as he looked up on the stage. He wasn't expecting Nate or Blair for another hour or so, so he decided to not get totally drunk just yet. He sighed to himself as he thought that this could have all been his. He still felt that it was a great investment, no matter what his father said. Bart didn't even give it a chance; he just took one glance at it and said it wasn't good enough.

Sure Blair thought the same thing, but at least she stuck around and listened to what he had to say before giving her final opinion on the place. That was it though; Blair was always supportive of him when he made an effort, especially since it doesn't happen very often. She always told him that he had the potential to be as great, if not better, than his father. All he had to do was use the brain she knew he had in his head and find something that inspired him to use it. And she was right; he genuinely felt that way about Victrola.

It was then that Chuck made a decision, he was going to invest in this place. Using his own money and he'd prove his father wrong. He'd figure out how to get the capital somehow even if he had to go get a loan from a bank like poor people do. Chuck mentally laughed at himself. If he was 21 he would have just dipped into his trust fund, but unfortunately he wasn't so he had to go about this in another way.

Almost out of nowhere, Bart Bass himself sat beside Chuck on his right with that Asian woman from the previous day on Chuck's left. Startling Chuck as he asked, "Is this seat taken?"

Chuck sat up straight and fixed his bowtie, still unable to process that his father was here, "Father."

Bart leaned back into the couch, getting comfortable as he looked around, obviously impressed, "Wow. The light of day doesn't do this place any justice."

Chuck looked around too, still not understanding what was going on. The Asian woman on his left began to speak to him, "I told him he had to check it out when the joint was in full swing."

Bart began making introductions, "Chuck this is Pauletta Cho."

Chuck shook hands with the woman that obviously talked his father into giving this place a second look with a simple, "Chuck Bass. Pleasure."

Pauletta smirked at him as she said softly, "All mine."

"Pauletta interviewed me for that recent piece in "The Observer," roped me into a lunch yesterday to pitch me the idea of helping her with a career change."

Chuck paused as he listened, realizing what a mistake he made when he spoke to Lily this early afternoon about his father's extracurricular activities as Pauletta spoke, "What can I say? I'm tired of reporting on Titans. I wanna be one myself."

Chuck swallowed as he said softly, "Right. Well, uh, who better to help than my father?"

Bart smiled and sat up, "As a test, I gave her your proposal that I was given to take a look at."

Chuck nodded, understanding now why she was there and how she got Bart here, "The math was fine, but what interested me was the wish fulfillment quality to the report." Pauletta explained as she looked up onto the stage.

Chuck smiled as Bart started speaking again, "So perhaps, some, uh, old-school thinking and fatherly bias clouded my judgment. What do you say?" Bart offered his hand to shake.

This was one for the books. Bart Bass was actually admitting that he was wrong! And he was actually saying yes to Chuck's idea. Not wanting him to change his mind, Chuck shook his hand and was shocked even more that a chuckle escaped him when Bart pulled him into a brief hug.

The two looked back at the stage as the dancers performed, "I love the idea of being a patron of burgeoning talent."

"Shall we take a full tour?" Pauletta asked.

"Yeah," Bart agreed as Pauletta stood up as he dug into his pocket as he spoke to Chuck, "You know, I've been trying to get ahold of Lily, but, uh, I don't seem able to."

Chuck was instantly brought back down to earth with Bart's sentence, and knew he had to tell his father what he did. It was nice while it lasted he thought silently preparing for his father's disappointment as Chuck patted his father's arm to gain his attention, "Uh, dad," he cleared his throat before continuing, "There's something I have to tell you."

After telling his father what he did, Bart stood up from the seat and headed outside with his phone pressed to his ear, Chuck not too far behind him. As Bart called repeatedly, Chuck stood back to give him some privacy genuinely feeling guilt over what he did. Lily obviously meant a great deal to his father and he had to admit that he held a sort of affection for her as well.

Bart sighed as he hung up the phone without an answer, "She's not taking my calls," He turned towards Chuck as he continued on, "I can't believe you did this."

"I made a mistake," Chuck explained. It wasn't as if what he said wasn't out of the realm of possibility for Bart. How was he to know that this time was for real?

"This isn't high school, Chuck," Bart scolded

"I'm sure she'll take you back once you explain," Chuck said, genuinely believing his words.

"I'm not so certain about that," Bart said.

"If she doesn't, I'm not sure that's my fault," Chuck defended himself, "There's a reason she was so quick to believe me."

Bart looked away and sighed as Pauletta came out with a smile on her face, "There's a fire eater in the lady's lounge."

Bart chuckled at the visual and the woman's obvious excitement as he began to make his excuses, "You two should set a meeting, see if this place can really be something. I'm gonna try and find Lily and fix this."

Chuck nodded, the feeling of guilt eating at him as he watched his father climb into his town car and drive off. He may not like his father very often, but he did love him and wanted him to be happy. And he could see now that Lily did that for him; it showed in the fact that he came here tonight and admitted that he was wrong about Victrola. Bart Bass never did something at the urging of someone else unless he wanted to.

Chuck sighed and turned towards Pauletta and the two of them set up a meeting for later in the week to discuss their business venture together. Despite his mistake with Lily, Chuck felt that overall his dreams were coming true. He earned his father's approval and had his faith in him to back up making Victrola everything Chuck had imagined. He couldn't wait to tell Blair when she came tonight.

Blair.

The first one he always told his good news to. She was also the first one that he told his bad news to. He smiled as he saw Pauletta off in her own car to head home; declining drinks since he knew his guest would be arriving soon. As he watched the car disappear his thoughts were back on Blair Waldorf and the weird feeling of fluttering in the pit of his stomach.

xoxo

As Anne and Eleanor began talking about some society event that Anne was putting together next week, Blair stood from her seat and slowly made her way towards the window, once again lost in her thoughts about the decision she made. She looked down and watched Nate with his father. They were obviously having some sort of disagreement judging from their tense postures. It wasn't until Mr. Archibald attempted to go back inside and Nate tried to stop him that things escalated quickly from bad to worse.

Blair gasped as she watched Nate's dad yank his arm away and actually punched Nate in the face, causing him to fall down. "Oh my god!" Blair silently thought to herself as she pressed herself against the window to get a better look.

Careful not to draw attention to herself by Anne and Eleanor, Blair silently watched as the cops took Mr. Archibald away in the back of their squad car and Nate was just standing by as he watched them go. Whatever was going on with the Captain was obviously a thing that has been happening for a while. She silently left the room with Anne and Eleanor none the wiser and headed downstairs to talk to Nate to find out what was going on. Even though she was breaking up with him and he lied to her, didn't mean that she didn't hold some form of care for his well-being.

As she arrived downstairs, she saw Nate about to get into the car with Arthur sitting in the front seat, instantly recognizing it as Chuck's car that he said he'd send for them, she quickly walked over, shutting the door before he could get in with a loud, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to Victrola. I promised Chuck; it's important to him," Nate shrugged as if it were an obvious answer.

Blair looked at him for a second as if he were insane before exclaiming softly, "I saw your father get arrested. Why didn't you come to me? I would've listened." Not just talking about tonight, Blair looked at Nate as he sighed and looked away from her. Even now, in his hour of need, he still refused to seek her out.

"I've tried, Blair. But every time I try, something's got your attention- a dinner party, you know, a masked ball," Nate explained.

Blair tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms as she responded, "Yeah, let's talk about that masked ball. Let's talk about how while I was waiting for you to find me so that we could finally be together, you were confessing your feelings and kissing Serena!"

Nate didn't have anything to say about that and it was more than enough of a confirmation for Blair as she continued on, "I thought I was doing everything right."

"It's not your fault," Nate said softly as he looked down at the ground.

"Do you love me?" Blair asked as she looked at him, needing to know the answer, but once again he was silent. That silence was louder than anything Blair had ever heard. She covered her face with her hands and shook her head, just over this entire thing. She sighed, "Looks like I was right when I suggested we take a break from each other…and when we talked yesterday, I thought that finally you were stepping up and were as in this as I was. But it was a lie. Just like a lot of things about us were."

She looked away from him and looked off into the distance, her decision made final as she turned back to Nate and sighed, "You should deal with your father. He needs you, and you know what? I don't," she shrugged lightly as she said with great finality, "We're done, Nate."

With those words she opened the car door and slid in by herself, shutting the door behind her. Not even wishing just a little bit that Nate would try to stop her and fight for their relationship because Blair knew that it had died a while ago. She rested her head against the back seat of the car as Arthur drove her away from her building and Nate and all the hopes that she had for them and their future together. Blair said goodbye to her not so perfect boyfriend in her head.

Her mind flooded with all the talks that she had had with Chuck about her relationship with Nate. How he tried to make her see the light that Nate didn't deserve her. That he wasn't as completely devoted to her as she used to be to him. Everything that Chuck told her was the absolute truth and Blair saw the light today. She wasn't ready to talk to Serena about it, the blonde would want to talk and analyze everything and try to get Blair to go back to Nate by focusing on all the good times they used to share.

Blair didn't want to go back. She wanted to move on and actually be happy like she used to be and on rare occasions actually was. As Victrola came into view through the window to her right, Blair made another decision, that tonight she was going to start living for herself instead of others. Tonight she was going to have fun with her best friend, Chuck Bass and lift him from his woes of yesterday.

xoxo

Chuck was informed that his car had returned with his guest and quickly got up from his seat inside after ordering some champagne to celebrate with and headed outside. He smiled as Blair stepped out of the car with a smile on her face and a soft hey as she walked up to him and kissed his cheek in greeting which he returned happily. His smile turned into one of confusion as Arthur shut the door to the car and asked, "Where's Nate?"

Blair sighed and looked away for a moment before looking back up at him, "We broke up. For good."

Chuck looked at her, once again feeling shocked this evening that not only did Blair and Nate break up, but Blair wasn't totally devastated. In fact, she looked as if she were fine with it. He asked hesitantly, "What?"

Blair took his hand in hers as she led him back inside, "I don't want to talk about my problems now, this is about cheering you up, Bass. Although I have to admit you seem as if you don't need to be cheered up at all." She smirked back at him as he let her pull him back inside.

He smirked back before he responded, "Well this is what this place is all about, escaping."

As the pair sat down at the reserved couch at the front of the room, Chuck poured Blair a glass of her favorite vintage of champagne as she asked as she took a sip, "So, explain to me why you're in such high spirits Bass."

Chuck grinned over at her as he relaxed into the couch, "Bart came by a couple of hours ago…and he changed his mind."

Blair gasped and smiled, "Chuck that's great!"

Chuck nodded, "He introduced me to a potential partner who read my proposal and loved the concept and we're really going to make it happen. So, this is in fact a victory party."

Blair softly clapped her hand against the glass in her other before raising her glass in the air, "I propose a toast. To Chuck Bass, I always knew you had it in you, and now your father does too." She lightly tapped her glass with his as she finished her toast.

Chuck looked down at his lap, almost in embarrassment at the brunette's praise. He wasn't kidding when he said that she was his second toughest critic. Gaining approval and praise from Blair Waldorf was a huge milestone in their circle.

Not letting her get away with not talking about what happened between her and Nate he asked, "So, what happened? When I talked to you yesterday, you were on cloud nine and he was finally stepping up. And now you're broken up after about 24 hours?"

Blair sighed as she took in his lifted brow and explained, "And I was. Mother spoke to me before Nate and I went out for dinner. Turns out Anne was talking about the Vanderbilt diamond and how it would look on my finger," Blair paused as she took a sip from her glass as she reflected, not noticing Chuck's look of fear as she continued, "It showed me that he was taking us seriously and everything was great until this afternoon…"

Chuck made his face blank as he asked softly, "What happened this afternoon?"

Blair rolled her eyes and laughed a bit, "According to Jenny Humphrey, while Nate was supposed to be finding me at the ball last week, he was busy confessing his feelings and kissing whom he thought was Serena." Blair looked at him square in the eye. "He wasn't even going to tell me. He was just going to continue on with this farce of a relationship for god knows why."

Blair finished her glass in a gulp and Chuck quickly gave her a refill as she continued on, "After dismissing Jenny for good, I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking of my next move. And I realized that I wasn't devastated, that my pride was hurt more than anything."

She glanced over at Chuck as he nodded in understanding as she wrapped up the story with a sigh, "Something was going on with his father that resulted in him getting arrested and I told him to go be with his father and basically that he and I were done. As Arthur drove me here, I realized that I didn't even want him to come after me."

Chuck said nothing for a while before giving his opinion, "You know I love Nathaniel as if he were my own brother, but I never felt that he understood what it was that he had with you. That he wasted so much time pining for perfection when it was right there beside him."

Blair glanced over at him at his very impassioned response before looking back at the stage in front of her, "You sound like a jealous boyfriend."

Chuck scoffed half-heartedly, suddenly feeling as if he were under a microscope, "Yeah, right. You wish."

Blair paused and frowned at his lack of response and slowly turned her head towards him, taking in his posture and the tenseness in his jaw before she scoffed back at him and said, "No. You wish."

Chuck glanced back at her, putting on his mask of indifference as he tried to get her off his trail, "Please. You forget who you're talking to."

"So do you," Blair insisted, not taking her eyes off of him as she asked him a very important question, "Do you…like me?"

Chuck didn't know how they even got here and he didn't know what was going on with him these last few months when it came to the brunette beside him, but for some reason he wanted to be honest like he's always been. So he answered her question with one of his own as he shook his head, "Define "like."

Blair was in actual shock as she raised her hand and rested her head on top of it as she tried to process this, "Oh. Uh, you have got to be kidding. I don't believe this." She lifted her head and looked back up at the stage.

Chuck figured he already showed his hand so he might as well continue on with his moment of truth, defending himself with, "How do you think I feel? I don't sleep well unless you're there. I feel sick, like there's something in my stomach, fluttering."

Blair looked back at Chuck with raised brows as he looked back up at the stage, looking as if he was in a panic, his symptoms eerily close to hers that for a while now she chose to ignore. She asked him softly at the mention of fluttering as she put her glass down on the table, "Butterflies? Oh no no no no no no. This is not- not happening."

Chuck ran his hands through his hair as he put his head in between his legs before turning back to Blair, unable to believe that he really set this thing in motion by opening his big mouth! "Believe me, no one is more surprised or ashamed than I am."

Blair took a breath, not ready to deal with this after the day she had already had. She wasn't ready to go into this possibility when the small voice in her head said that she felt the same about him. Not wanting to talk about this anymore she looked at Chuck, "Chuck, you know that I adore all of God's creatures and the metaphors that they inspire, but…," she shook her fist to emphasize her point, "those butterflies have got to be murdered."

Feeling the rejection come much harder than he cared to admit, Chuck glared at Blair and simply said, "Fine." Before he picked up his glass of scotch and drank it one gulp, not wanting to show that she got to him with her words by leaving her there at the club. He may be a Basstard but she was still his best friend, he wasn't going to leave her here alone and he figured that this whole "liking" nonsense was just a phase.

Blair let herself get swept up in the music and the dancers in front of her and felt herself watch them in awe, the conversation she just had with Chuck still sitting in the back of her mind. Watching the dancers and reflecting on all that happened tonight, Blair remembered her decision that she made in the car earlier. That she was going to live for herself and actually let herself be genuinely happy; all this time she was afraid of what people thought of her, while Serena lived her life with such freedom and no such fears.

Chuck watched his best friend as she stared up at the girls in front of her, because he was such a masochist he asked, "I know you explained what happened, but-,"

"Relief," She interrupted him, as if she could read his mind, "I feel relief." Blair smiled as an idea came into her head and spoke coyly, not taking her eyes off the stage, "You know, I got moves."

Chuck smirked, the altercation between them not five minutes ago put on the back burner, as he began to tease, "Really? Then why don't you get up there?"

Blair laughed as she took a sip from her glass, "No, I'm just saying, I have moves."

"Come on," Chuck nudged her playfully as he sat up beside her, "You're ten times hotter than any of those girls."

Blair frowned, seeing right through him as she glanced at him before looking back at the stage, "I know what you're doing, Bass." The idea she had still lingering, tempting her to finally let loose and live her life; after a moment, and her decision decided she looked at Chuck and said simply, "You really don't think I'd go up there."

Chuck smirked and shook his head, "I know you won't do it."

Blair felt her jaw drop and looked at the stage one more time before cementing her decision and sets her glass down on the table as she said firmly, "Guard my drink." To which Chuck looked at her in pleasant surprise and leaned back into the couch as he lifted his hand in the air as if to say by all means. He watched her as she stood up and walked towards the stairs leading to the stage and got right front and center.

Chuck could not believe that this was happening. He knew she had it in her and he only hoped that he would be there to witness it when it happened. That Blair Waldorf was finally letting go and the wild, beautiful, and sexy woman he knew was in there was taking center stage and making her grand debut to the world. As he watched her slowly unzip her dress and let it fall to the ground after tossing her headband to the side, Chuck leaned forward, mesmerized at the sight.

As Blair began her dance with the other dancers in just her slip, stockings, and heels, Chuck couldn't contain himself and stood up with his glass in his hand, taking a step closer at the sight of this woman that he never had the pleasure of meeting before. She looked at him with a playful smirk over her shoulder just when a waiter dressed in drag came up to him asking him, "Who's that girl?"

All Chuck could say with a small shake of his head as he responded with the truth, "I have no idea."

"You go baby vamp!" The waiter responded with a wave of his hand before going back to work.

As the routine continued Chuck took a sip from his champagne glass as Blair teased and flirted with the crowd. They were eating out of the palm of her hand she smiled playfully as she enjoyed every second of it. He had never seen her look as beautiful as she did in that moment as she bent down and played with her pearls around her neck. They locked eyes with one another and Chuck smiled as he raised his glass in the air to her.

As you might have guessed Upper East Siders, prohibition never stood a chance against exhibition. It's human nature to be free. And no matter how long you try to be good, you can't keep a bad girl down.

Blair laughed as she got off the stage to the roaring crowd and waved to them as she walked over to Chuck, leaving her dress on the stage without a thought. She felt free and happy and she didn't want the feeling to ever go away. The look on Chuck's face as he watched her dance up there as if she were the only one in the room, made her feel less afraid. Nate had never looked at her like that, in fact he reserved that look for Serena.

It was far into the dance that Blair realized that she was dancing for Chuck, her best friend who has always been her rock. Who had always been there to help her pick up the pieces after Nate shattered them. He was the example that she so wished that Nate would follow and she had the chance to have what he had to offer, that he was willing to try out for her.

This was their moment and Blair was going to let her personal butterflies lead her into the shadows with her dark knight and find out what was waiting for her there. She smiled as she took his hand in hers and nodded towards the exit with confidence, "Let's get out of here, Bass."

He smiled as he nodded in agreement with her and walked with her out of Victrola and into his waiting limo, sliding in after her, making sure to have someone get Blair's dress and send it out for dry cleaning with Arthur later.

Blair crossed her legs as the door closed and the car started moving, it was her turn to be honest with him, "I have those same butterflies too…," she said softly towards him.

Chuck looked at her and his smile grew at her words, hesitantly taking her hand in his, not wanting to push since with that one sentence, she opened a door that he thought was closed and locked to him, "You were…amazing up there." He whispered to her in complete awe.

Blair smiled softly as she squeezed his hand back gently before sliding over towards him across the seat until her side was pressed against his. She was done overthinking tonight. She was going to just feel. She looked into his eyes and down at his lips that have touched her so many times in affection and wanted to feel what they felt like against her own. As she leaned towards him slowly, she felt the tightening in her stomach grow as he leaned towards her too and they shared their first kiss.

Just once though.

But that one kiss was more than enough to inspire Blair to want more as she turned her body completely towards him. She began to feel the stirrings of fear return, but it was his next words that gave her courage. He asked her, "Are you sure?"

The fact that he asked that, proved that she was different to him. That he cared for her and it caused Blair to just want to jump head first into this thing with him without a second thought. With that feeling she leaned towards him and took his lips with her with a passionate kiss and he eagerly kissed her back.

She got swept up in the feelings of the butterflies in her stomach taking flight inside of her as she slid her hand up into his hair, gripping them as her other hand caressed his cheek and down his jaw as he held her against him too. Quickly changing their positions he turned her and pressed her against the back of the limo, hitching her leg over his hip and all Blair could do was feel and she was more than fine with that…

A/N: *takes a deep breath* I don't know about you but frankly I think I out did myself with this chapter. What did you think of the ending? I changed it up with them actually admitting to having feelings before they had sex and I feel that it went really well. The epiphany she had in this chapter was legit. I eagerly await your response! I seriously had to listen to Sum 41 "With me" over and over after I wrote this!

Lots of love to my readers and my reviewers and followers! You all asked for it and some even demanded it and I gave it because that's how much I love you guys! The follow up of the morning after will be posted Saturday ;) It's Blair's birthday and some shit's gonna hit the fan, what's in store for our beloved Chair? Only I know. Can't wait to hear your thoughts and I'll see you in a couple of days!

-Plei4fun