Dichotomy

Summary: He will destroy her. It's the one thing about him that she can say for certain. Chuck/Vanessa

Setting: season 2 (around the era of "Remains of the J")

A/N: the long wait was not intentional, trust me. it seems life has been uninspiring (writing wise) and this chapter was a definite struggle as it decided to go in its own direction (that keeps happening...) so review, let me know what you think. :]

duo.

Chuck leans across what little space there is that still remains between them, covering Vanessa's mouth with his, not hesitating in the least to allow his tongue to slip between her lips once she parts them. In spite of everything she told herself before their encounter, Vanessa can feel that her own response is immediate and without hesitation; her eyes slide shut and her head tilts to the side to deepen the kiss, her hands coming up to wrap around the back of his neck and tugging roughly on his hair at the nape of his neck in an effort to pull him closer. In the back of her mind, she is aware of Chuck's hands gripping her hips, pulling her toward him and using his hold on her to turn them around and back her into the far wall of the coatroom.

Vanessa isn't entirely sure who pulls away first but she knows even before she opens her eyes that gracing Chuck's lips there will be a smug and all too knowing smirk.

"I think I'm starting to get a pretty good idea of what it is that you really want," he says wittingly, his mouth brushing against hers after he utters each word.

She hates that he can be so... pompous about this.

"Chuck..." She shakes her head. "I came here with Nate-"

"And your point would be...?"

"My point," Vanessa stresses, eyes narrowed, "is that it would be kind of hypocritical for me to stay in here, in the coat closet, with you while he's still out there probably waiting for me."

"Nate brought you here as his date even while he's still very much involved in a 'relationship'," he utters the word with a mocking and borderline derisive sneer while Vanessa rolls her eyes, "with Blair. Who the hell cares if you're a little bit hypocritical? The world, especially the Upper East Side, is full of hypocrites. Join the club."

She shakes her head, but doesn't make an effort to move away from him yet. Not that she can; he has her pinned between his body and the wall, his arms wrapped tight around her waist. "This is just..." she trails off because his hands are kneading her skin through the thin fabric of her dress and his mouth is slowly sliding down the column of her neck. "This is a really bad idea."

"All the great things in life start out as bad ideas."

"Chuck-"

"And then they turn into brilliant ideas," Chuck continues, ignoring Vanessa's attempts to speak.

She realizes that she probably shouldn't find his arrogance so appealing. He's banking on that, she knows, hoping to use that weakness to his advantage.

"Tell me what you want."

"I don't think-"

"Don't think," he interrupts. "Stop second-guessing yourself; it's annoying. Just tell me what you want."

Tell me what you want. Vanessa doesn't know why it's so hard for her to trust that one statement but that probably has something to do with the person whose mouth it's coming out of. "Just what kind of game are you playing, Bass?"

He doesn't answer her. "Chuck."

"You never answered my question," he insists. What do you want?"

It's unnerving, really, because he's looking her in the eye when he asks this and he's not supposed to care about what she wants and she's not supposed to want him to. She's not supposed to want to stay in this coatroom with him, Nate Archibald and any expectations be damned. Damn it.

"You kind of ruin everything, you know that?" Vanessa scoffs, rolling her eyes before leaning forward to kiss him.

"So did you have fun at the Plaza event the other night?"

Blair's tone is too cheery, her smile too wide. Nate may be oblivious about many things, but this isn't one of them. She's baiting him; this is a trap.

"I wouldn't say that." And he definitely wouldn't; the talk Nate had been hoping to have with Vanessa about where they stood - as friends, as whatever - turned out to be a bust and he ended up spending the majority of the night playing the catch-up with a second cousin named Asher who Nate had been hoping to avoid who spit when he talked.

"Really? So you expect me to believe you went stag to a society event?"

"I asked Vanessa, as friends-"

"Cute."

"I can't have friends?"

"Vanessa is not your friend. She's practically a lady in waiting," Blair sneers.

Nate thinks it's ridiculous for them to be arguing about this when Blair so clearly and obviously has feelings - or whatever she wants to call them - for Chuck. He tells her as much and that spirals into yet another argument that makes his head hurt and has Nate wondering how they got here. So, he does what she secretly wants but doesn't have the courage to do and ends the relationship for her. In the end, she can hate him but neither one of them has to worry about cheating on the other. "You're breaking up with me? This is a joke right? Any minute now Ashton Kutcher is going to jump out of a bush wearing a disgusting trucker hat and clothes that are ten years too young for him."

"I think you have feelings for Chuck," he starts slowly.

"Chuck," she spits his name as if it were a curse and he would love to believe her, but Blair has always been a great actress. "Chuck was a meaningless fling that I have no trouble moving past and forgetting ever even happened."

"Just because a fling is meaningless doesn't mean we don't develop feelings for the other person, anyway."

"Actually, Nate, a fling is the definition of meaningless."

"Blair—"

"No. You think I don't know what you're doing?"

"What are you talking about?"

"God, you are so transparent," she snaps. "I saw the Gossip Girl blast, Nate!"

"I never slept with Vanessa."

"But you still cheated on me with her."

"And you still cheated on me with Chuck. I saw the blast, too, Blair."

"That's not the point!" She actually stamps her foot in aggravation and Nate can't really stop the small smile that leaps to his face nearly instantaneously. He can't seem to help it.

"This isn't about Vanessa or Chuck - or at least, it shouldn't be. It's about us and the fact that I feel like we're holding onto this… idea of how we were two years ago and…We're not the same people anymore."

He moves to take her hand, but she's quicker than he is and pulls away. "I do love you Blair, but I feel like our whole lives you've had this fantasy planned out. And it doesn't exist."

"And it does with Vanessa." She laughs disbelievingly. "Last year it was Serena—"

"This isn't about Vanessa or Serena. Or anyone else."

"Of course it is, Nate," Blair sighs, resigned. "It always is with us."