Pieces

~#~

"The last time I saw Blair that freakishly calm –"
"Was when Serena left for boarding school."
"And you know as well as I do the calm won't last, and when it breaks…there are going to be pieces of Blair all over the wall."
– Chuck Bass & Nate Archibald – They Shoot Humphreys, Don't They?

~#~

Nate knew that when things were right, you weren't supposed to feel guilty about them. He also knew (in exactly the same way that he knew that two plus two equalled four – because to Nate, things were always that simple) that what happened with Serena had been right – meant to be. So why was he standing outside Blair's building, bouquet in hand and Chuck in tow, far too skittish to go in?

"Use it or lose it, Archibald," his best friend drawled, and Nate squared his shoulders. First and foremost (and of this fact Chuck had just reminded him) he was an Archibald, and Archibald men did not shy away from their duty. After he'd apologised and ended it with Blair, he would go and find Serena. He would tell her that they could be together, at last. That he loved her. In his mind, her blue eyes would suddenly shine with unexpected tears, and she would fling her arms around his neck and whisper almost inaudibly that she loved him too. Then…well. Nate couldn't think about then without his pants becoming uncomfortably tight.

So he bowed to Chuck's command, entering the building with a smile and a nod to the doorman (who sneered at Chuck) and a glare at Chuck (who sneered back). They rose together in the elevator, Chuck silently wondering why Nate had brought him along on this mission of kiss ass and make up – maybe as a human shield if Blair started to throw things?

The elevator pinged, and the door slid open. There was Blair – radiant in her serenity as she lounged across the couch, casually flipping through that month's issue of Vogue and occasionally dog-earing a page so she could turn back to it. As the elevator doors chimed she looked up, and a wide smile spread across her already luminous face.

"Nate! Chuck!" She rose gracefully to her feet and glided towards them, the afternoon sunlight forming a halo around her dark head as it streamed in through the window.

By her tone of voice alone, Chuck knew that something was up. He could almost see the real Blair hiding inside the papier-mâché shell, frantically gluing strips of newspaper over the cracks which appeared all around her. There was something squirming and struggling to get out in her eyes, and it was black and horrible and empty.

Nate only noticed that Blair was wearing yellow, and thought of Serena's yellow dress as she cavorted on top of the bar and then on top of him.

Blair leaned in swiftly to kiss Nate's cheek, then touched Chuck's lapel. "Nice shirt, Bass. Purple looks so great on you, have I ever told you that?" She gave him a dazzling smile, then returned her attention to her boyfriend and the flowers he was holding. "For me? How sweet!" Nate clumsily thrust them at her and she laughed a strange, tinkling laugh, dancing off to the kitchen to put them in some water.

Now Chuck really knew something was wrong. Blair didn't like roses, she liked peonies. She didn't like her flowers unaccompanied by chocolate, and that chocolate had to be Godiva's Gold Collection. He'd heard it enough times, so why didn't her boyfriend seem to get the message?

"Something's up," he murmured, careful to keep his voice low as Blair's unnaturally bright laughter sounded once more from the kitchen.

Nate regarded his friend with guileless blue eyes. "She seems fine to me."

"That's because your head's so full of Serena that you're not even looking!" You've never looked, he added silently. Not like I have.

"Did you know?" Blair emerged from the doorway looking sunnier than ever, a steaming pastry in one hand. Blair Waldorf never eats carbs, Chuck thought. Never. "Serena's going to boarding school in Connecticut now. She went away last night in such a hurry she didn't even have time to call and say goodbye, isn't that strange? Her education's suddenly so important, after all this time." The dark eyes flashed and were suddenly the real Blair's, but it only took a microsecond for them to gloss over and became china doll-esque again.

So that was it, was it? Chuck felt somewhat hollow but Nate was shocked and appalled – maybe heartbroken? He wasn't sure. In any case, he only stayed for a few more excruciating minutes before babbling out an apology for neglecting his boyfriendly duties lately and giving Blair a light kiss as recompense before bolting for the elevator. Chuck made to follow, but felt Blair's cool fingers alight on his arm. As he turned to look at her her, the coiling darkness in her eyes seemed to reach out for him, as if it longed to swallow him whole.

"I know," she said, broken and lovely, and the balloon behind her papier-mâché face popped.

Fin.