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: Includes a borrowed line from the show, one of my favorites. Points if you notice it.

So, the next chapter is looking like it's the last one, and it will definitely be up sooner than this one was. Read and enjoy, everyone. :)

difference.

He awakes to the scent of Vanessa's shampoo wafting faintly beneath his nose and the feeling of her body, warm and naked, completely flush against his side.

There is no point of disconnect between them— her hip is pressed against his hip, while her bare thigh draped across his. It's…nice, he muses, and oddly enough the feeling of being settled, of being content makes him… uncomfortable. It's not that he doesn't like or isn't used to getting what he wants—obviously, Chuck smirks— it's more so that he isn't used to caring about what happens after he's achieved the end result. He never has, really. At least until now.

Chuck frowns in thought just as the door to his hotel room opens abruptly, disrupting the peace. He's forgotten completely about the housecleaning service that comes to his room so often that he's on a first name basis with the staff - all except for one, a middle-aged German woman named Hildegaard, one of the few maids Chuck hasn't slept with. He's grateful, though, what with Vanessa currently occupying his bed, that Hildegaard is the one coming to check to see if the room needs any cleaning.

"Good morning, Mr. Bass. Or should I say afternoon?" Hildegaard greets disapprovingly.

Vanessa startles awake at the other presence in his hotel room, her eyes snapping open and her body suddenly rigid. Chuck smirks in amusement as he watches her scramble to cover herself up out of some attempt to have some semblance of modesty.

"Mr. Bass? Would you like for me to turn down your bed?" Hildegaard asks archly. She's standing near the foot of the bed now, her hands folded neatly in front of her, her gaze focused solely on Chuck. He can feel Vanessa squirming beside him as she struggles to pull the bed-sheet up higher across her chest and Chuck wraps an arm around her to hold her in place and keep her from moving—though he won't deny that the feeling of her body moving against his is certainly a welcome one.

"No, it's fine for now."

"Do you need anything else, Mr. Bass?" Hildegaard purses her lips and narrows her eyes as her gaze lands on Vanessa in a look ripe with barely veiled disapproval. "Anything for your…female friend?"

"Oh, no, I—" Vanessa starts but then she cuts herself off, meeting Hildegaard's gaze suddenly. "Actually, Hildegaard, I would love some Pellegrino. And maybe some extra pillows," she adds.

Hildegaard looks to Chuck for confirmation, who simply nods with a smirk on his lips. Hildegaard's eyes are essentially slits at this point. "…Yes, Mr. Bass." She nods quickly before exiting the room.

Beside him, Vanessa snorts. "'Pellegrino'?" he mocks. "You couldn't just ask for water?"

"I could've given her a harder time. Did you see the way she looked at me?"

"Hildegaard's a bit overprotective."

"Clearly." She turns over onto her side, eying him with a smirk. "And how hard is it for you to make your own bed? The last time I checked, your hands were working perfectly."

"Then there would be no point to room service."

Vanessa shakes her head in attempt to hide the small amused smile on her lips. "You're unbelievable."

"Thank you."

"That's not what I meant and you know it. And, for the record," she adds, rolling so that she's on top of him, "I'm not into exhibitionism."

Chuck smirks, eyebrows quirked in bemusement at the new position. "You say that now, but I'm sure I can find some way to convince you otherwise."

"…I can't stay," Vanessa admits. "I…have to take care of something."

"Cryptic."

She nods but despite his imploring look doesn't clear up the mystery. Vanessa slides out of bed and he is momentarily distracted when she drops her arms, the sheet falls to the mattress, and she bends to collect her clothes from the floor. Chuck watches her leave, telling himself that he should have known better than to get his hopes up.

Blair sighs before taking a deep breath, lifting her chin and squaring her shoulders as she pushes open the door to the Chanel boutique where she knows Serena is certainly waiting for her, armed with an arsenal of questions.

Blair breezes past a saleswoman, sending her away with a flick of the wrist as she approaches Serena, who's examining a pair of heels, probably trying to determine if they're too high to consider purchasing.

"B, there you are. I've been calling." Serena pulls her into a tight hug that she quickly releases once she seems to realizes just how halfheartedly Blair is returning it. "What took you so long?"

"Trepidation," she retorts.

"What?"

Blair closes her eyes for just a moment, before ultimately deciding to tell Serena every excruciating detail of her conversation - breakup - with Nate.

"Wait a minute, I don't understand." Serena stops short in the middle of the store, her hands on her hips, a frown marring her otherwise perfect features. "You and Nate were supposed to talk. You were supposed to tell each other that those Gossip Girl blasts from the other day were either fake, meant nothing, Photoshopped or something and you were supposed to be fine - but then you come back from your dad's chateau and now you're telling me that you two broke up? Explain this to me because I'm not getting it."

Blair pulls out a gold shimmering, mermaid-esque dress from an array of dresses and holds it up to Serena. "I'm pretty sure this one is your size, though I don't know if it's appropriate. What exactly is the dress code for a vow renewal of a wedding that technically hasn't happened yet?"

"It's not a vow renewal," Serena reasserts, taking the garment - and the distraction - out of Blair's hands. "My mother and Rufus don't care about a dress code and you know it, Blair. Come on. What exactly happened between you and Nate?"

She sighs, turning towards Serena and lowering her voice. Saying this out loud is, admittedly, unpleasant. And, in Blair's opinion, unbelievable. "He said something about possibly having feelings for Vanessa. Not without, of course, accusing me of having feelings for Chuck," she adds bitterly. "You know, once men have tasted caviar it absolutely baffles me how they can settle for catfish."

"He…wants to be with Vanessa?" Serena guesses. "Is that what he said?"

Blair scoffs, rolling her eyes and setting the dress off to the side. "Not in so many words but, he didn't have to. It was written all over his face."

Serena bites her lip and starts, naively, Blair would argue, trying to rationalize. "Well, then, you don't know for sure if that's what he wants. I mean, maybe—"

"I know Nate, S, and he's so painfully obvious whenever his eyes start to wander. It's pathetic really."

"…You seem awfully calm about this."

"It's over. C'est la vie. He can troll the streets of Brooklyn fighting off the rats for scraps of streetcar hummus for the rest of his life for all I care."

"You know, I don't think we've both been single at the same time for a long time."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"…Kind of," Serena concedes; Blair scowls. "B, it doesn't have to be either or, you know. You can choose to be without them."

"I know that. It's just - I had a plan-"

Serena shrugs. "So, change it."

Blair sighs, almost pouting. "You make it sound so simple.'

Vanessa leans against the counter as she sits in the kitchen of the Humphrey/van der Woodsen household. Dan is perched on the stool next to her, a mug of coffee in his hands. She feels her phone buzz in her pocket and, without looking at the display, hits 'ignore'. "So what time is Lily and Rufus' anniversary/celebration of beating the odds and fates of the universe party?"

"Seven," he answers succinctly. He's choosing to ignore her phone call avoidance, Vanessa knows, because he's got bigger fish to fry. His head is cocked partially to the side, the look on his face the very definition of quizzical. She's known Dan long enough to know that look is going to be followed by questions and conversations that she either isn't going to like or is going to make her uncomfortable. Or both.

"So-" At this, Vanessa manages to hold back a sigh but still rolls her eyes. "- word on the street is it that Nate and Blair called it quits. Coincidentally, not long after that blast hit with that picture of you and Nate."

Vanessa swallows her own sip of coffee, careful not to gulp. "'Word on the street'?" Vanessa scoffs at Dan's use of the out-of-date colloquialism, an eyebrow raised. "I think you've been spending way too much alone time with Rufus lately."

Dan narrows his eyes. "Interesting. You know, I thought that there would be more fanfare when this happened. From you, especially."

"I don't really do 'fanfare', Dan."

"Something happened with either Chuck or Nate, or both."

"I don't think either one of them would be interested in a threesome with each other."

"Vanessa-"

"Your waffles are burning," she cuts him off, eager for the distraction that has him turning around to keep the nearly antiquated waffle iron from bursting into flames.

A mini-inquisition with Dan was certainly not on Vanessa's agenda when she came here nearly twenty minutes ago and now she's more than grateful to have the opportunity to escape to see the person she intended to come here to see: Jenny.