Chapter 5

Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone reading and reviewing and alerting this story, I really appreciate it! If I haven't heard from you yet, let me know what you think ;)

The road to reconciliation is finally beginning so I hope you enjoy. As always, please read and review =)

OMG, last night's episode! Dan and Blair are finally becoming real friends, yay! Can you say When Harry Met Sally? I'm just saying ;)

QueenBee10 – Thank you so much!

Krazy4Spike – Thanks so much! I totally agree, it's about time Chuck fight for Blair.

Rf – Thanks!

TriGemini – Thank you so much! Chuck is finally realizing that he needs to man up and be open about his feeling with Blair once and for all in order to move forward. As for Serena, she only seems to learn the hard way. I hope you like where I'm taking things.

Kels – Thank you! The road to the happy reunions has begun, albeit slow rocky. And Dan and Blair's friendship remains strong.

Sillypandalover91 – Thank you so much! I really need Chuck to get his act together on the show, too.

Arkra – Thank you! I really want Dan and Blair to be happy again too, with Serena and Chuck ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl, or Ed Westwick – sigh.

XOXO

Serena came stumbling in, completely blitzed, around 5am. Blair's alarm wasn't set to go off for another thirty minutes when the commotion woke her up. She wandered sleepily into the hall to see who was there when she found her roommate trying to crawl up the stairs, unable to walk.

'What have you gotten yourself into this time, S?' she thought to herself as she rushed down the stairs, all thoughts of the scene at the restaurant forgotten for the time being.

"Hey, hey," she said gently as she pushed the hair out of Serena's eyes, "Let's get you cleaned up."

Blair managed to get her up the stairs with some difficulty. She held her friend's hair back as she got sick, thinking about how some things will never change.

After getting Serena to take a quick shower and settling her into bed, Blair headed downstairs to get a glass of water and some toast for her. She found the blonde starting to fall asleep when she got back to her.

"I don't deserve your help," Serena said miserably as Blair sat on the bed, "just leave me alone."

"Shh, sweetie," she said softly as she tried to get Serena to eat the toast, "You need to get something into your stomach. There you go," she said as her friend finally took a bite of the toast.

Serena was finally drifting to sleep on Blair's shoulder when Dorota opened the door.

"Miss Blair," she said quietly, "You must get ready or you be late for Vogue."

"I know, Dorota," Blair told her when she got to the hallway. "Serena had a rough night. Please keep an eye on her for me until I get home."

"Of course," her trusty maid assured her.

"Thank you," Blair called as she hurried to her room for a shower before getting ready for work.

XOXO

"Ms. Waldorf," the concierge called to her as she made her way out, "I have a letter for you."

"Thank you," she said with a smile as she put it in her bag. If she didn't hurry she wouldn't be able to get her caffeine fix before work.

She made it in with five minutes to spare and her supervisor immediately handed her today's to-do list before answering one of her many phones. Blair was stuffing gift bags when she saw her fellow interns start filing out for their lunch break.

After getting something from Dean and Deluca, she remembered the note she slipped into her purse earlier. Her heart froze when she saw the handwriting, Chuck. No matter how she tried, she couldn't bring herself to open it. She put it back in her bag and tried to forget about it.

She was a block away from the office when she saw Nate.

"Hey, stranger," Nate said a big smile as he gave Blair a big hug. "How've you been?"

"Good, you?" she said as she looked at her watch. "Sorry, I'm really not trying to be rude but I have to be back upstairs in ten minutes. How are you?"

"I'm good," he told her, "I'm actually on my way to see Chuck. Anything you want me to tell him for you?" Nate knew that his two friends were on the outs and was hoping to help them patch things up. It was about time he did something for them.

"No, why? What have you been told?" she asked quickly.

"Nothing, relax," he said with a smile. "What are you up to here?"

"Interning," she said, "With Vogue, three days a week."

"That explains why I haven't seen you at Columbia yet," he reasoned. "We should meet up for lunch soon."

"Definitely," she said with a quick glance at her watch. "I have to run. Talk to you soon." With a quick kiss on his cheek, she was gone.

Nate stood there smiling, thinking about how he could help Blair and Chuck get back together before they imploded again.

XOXO

"Your father is an absolute genius," Chuck said as Nate took a seat.

"Yeah," Nate said suspiciously, "Tell his parole officer that."

"I'm serious," Chuck told him, "He knows how badly I want control of Bass Industries so he suggested we renegotiate the deal with Thorpe. Now I can buy back controlling shares as I get the capital instead of waiting to buy it back all at once."

"Be careful," Nate warned. "He's good with money and contracts but that's also what put him in prison to begin with. Don't let him get one over on you."

"I won't, and the Captain knows that," Chuck said emphatically. "He knows me well enough to know that when it comes to business I'm ruthless."

"Don't I know it," Nate muttered.

"I'm choosing to ignore that," Chuck said bitterly. "Besides, Thorpe won't sign until I meet with Raina this week."

"You mean the woman you've been rebuffing for the past month?" Nate asked amused.

"Yes, and if I'm right she'll probably toy with me and say the deal isn't changing," he surmised.

"As much as I love being your sounding board, how about you ask me about my day for a change," Nate suggested with a Cheshire cat grin plastered on his face.

"Fine, I'll bite," Chuck said with wariness, "How was your day?"

"I saw Blair," Nate told his friend, still smiling.

"Oh," Chuck said, "Good for you."

"She looks really good," Nate said, "Busy, but good."

"Busy, how so?" Chuck asked, desperate for any news of her.

"Well, in addition to her classes she's interning with Vogue three days a week. You know how they run the interns ragged. But leave it to Blair not to break a sweat."

"She'll be Anna Wintour's right hand by the summer if she gets her way," Chuck said with a smirk.

"Are you making any progress with her? Have you spoken at all since Thorpe's party a few weeks ago?" Nate asked.

"Not really," he said, uncomfortable under his friend's intense gaze.

"What did you do now?" Nate asked annoyed. "Did I not warn you against doing something stupid?"

"You did, Nathaniel, but that doesn't mean I listened," he said. "After the show Serena and I put on last night it will be amazing if she ever speaks to me again."

"Show?" Nate asked impatiently.

"Serena found out where Blair and Dan would be meeting up and got dates for us to parade in front of them," he recounted. "I could see that Blair was upset so I knew it was working. That is until she came over to our table and said something that stuck with me all night."

"How are you going to fix this?" Nate demanded as Chuck stared at the wall in front of him. "Did you sleep the girl Serena hooked you up with?"

"No, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not even after I saw Blair kiss Dan at Thorpe's party," Chuck told him. "I left them on our way to a club and walked from downtown Chelsea to Blair's."

"Dude, that's like 70 blocks and 4 avenue changes," Nate said awe. "Does anyone know you did that?"

"Blair," he said, "I left a note for her with the concierge."

"I'm only saying this because I love you both," Nate said seriously, "But you need to talk to her face to face and resolve your issues. It's obvious how in love with her you are. Stop delaying it and fight for her. God knows she fought for you."

"I know," he conceded, "But I won't push her anymore. When she's ready she'll talk to me, until then I'm going to focus on Bass Industries and wait for Blair."

XOXO

Blair's head was still reeling from Chuck's letter when she got home she chose to ignore her feeling as she went to check on Serena.

"What's with the bags?" she asked when she stepped into the room. "Are you going somewhere?"

"I'm moving out, I think it would be for best," Serena said as she avoided Blair's eyes.

"You think last night changes anything, no," Blair told her. "Friends are there for each other no matter what. I'm just glad you made it home safely. I don't want to think about what could have happened if you didn't make it here."

"You really don't want me gone?" Serena asked skeptically.

"Of course not," Blair said. "I know things between us have been strained lately but this is your home. I want you to stay as long as you want to. I could never kick you out, S. I love you."

Serena couldn't take it any longer. Blair was treating her so well after what happened last night. If this had happened a year ago they would be in a cold war by now. Maybe Dan's influence in her life was for the better.

"Chuck didn't do anything with that girl last night," Serena said as Blair went to leave. "You need to know that."

"It doesn't matter," Blair said with her back to Serena, determined not to let the tears form in her eyes.

"I was the one who convinced him to go out last night, and I arranged his date," Serena told her before she could leave.

"Why would you do that?" Blair asked as she turned around.

"Because I was jealous of the time you were spending with Dan," she said. "And you two were obviously trying to make us jealous. You really mean to tell me that nothing has happened between you and Dan?"

"No, something's happened," Blair told her as she met Serena's gaze, "I finally see what you've been telling me all these years about him. Dan is a really good person and I'm happy to call him my friend. But you still don't get it, S. The good ones always stay good, no matter how bad you treat them."

Serena immediately launched herself at Blair and hugged her tightly, "I'm so, so sorry. Please don't hate me."

"S," Blair said gently as she pulled back, "I could never hate you. I often disapprove of what you do but I never hate you. You'll always be my best friend."

"You mean I haven't been replaced by Dan?" she asked secretly hoping she wasn't.

"Of course not," Blair told her with a smirk, "I now have two best friends."

"Do you kiss all of your best friends?" Serena asked in reference to what she saw at Thorpe's party.

"Only the cute ones," she said impishly as she kissed Serena's cheek.

"Who are you and what have you done with Blair Waldorf?" Serena demanded in a more playful tone.

"People change, S," Blair told her, "Even me."

"Even Chuck," Serena added.

"Maybe," Blair added. "Maybe he has, maybe he hasn't. But I think I'm finally ready to face what's happened between us. It's about time we move forward."

"I have something to do," she said. She wanted to talk to the concierge about when that letter was dropped off. "I'll see you in a bit."

Blair left and Serena felt horrible. She wasn't used to these new feelings she was having – remorse and empathy. It was a foreign concept for Blair to treat her so well when she was so despicable to her with Chuck.

She had to see Chuck to fix the mess she got them both in.

XOXO

"Good evening," Blair said to the concierge she saw that morning. "You gave me a letter this morning and I was wondering when you got it and who gave it to you."

"Mr. Bass left it for you early this morning. The night concierge said he stopped by around 3am and wrote it for you then. Is there a problem, miss?" he asked.

"No," she told him, "Thank you, have a good night."

She slowly made her way back upstairs, finally ready to read Chuck's letter.

As Blair was stepping off the elevator Serena was waiting to step in.

"Thank you, again, for helping me this morning," Serena said.

"Any time, you know I'll always be here for you," Blair said as Serena went to step in the elevator. "Will you be back tonight?" Blair asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you later," Serena told her as she hugged her. "I love you, B"

"I love you too, S."

XOXO

After staring at the envelope for twenty minutes, she finally opened it with shaking hands.

Blair,

If you are reading this after recognizing my handwriting, there is still a chance I can make things right between us.

Mere words will never be able to express how sorry I am for everything I put you through.

If you can find it in your heart to let me back into your life, please give me some sort of sign. I will never stop trying to be worthy of your love again.

I love you,

C

"Hey, what's up?" Dan asked when he saw it was Blair calling.

"Chuck was here last night," she said as she tried to even her breath after reading his letter.

"What happened? Are you crying?" he asked as he sat up, keen to know what made her cry.

"He left a note for me with the concierge," she told him, "And I just read it."

"And?" Dan asked, "What are you going to do?" He knew that she wanted to hear what he had to say but saying it and following up on it were two different things entirely.

"Write back of course," she said as she choked back a sob as she tried to laugh. "Why is this so hard?"

"Because good things usually are," Dan told her.

"You think Chuck is a good thing?" Blair asked, not able to believe what she was hearing.

"For you, yes," Dan said with a chuckle. "He makes you happy, and we all know you make him happy. The only real question now is how long are you going to make him wait."

They spent the rest of the night talking. He asked about Serena and she told him that she admitted up to masterminding last night's escapade and that she really did seem sorry. Dan let her know that he was willing to hear her out, just as long as she reached out to him.

Please review to let me know you want me to continue and what you would like to see next.