A/N: Thank you so much for your responses! I'm glad you guys stuck with me :)

The Rose's Ruse

Chapter 7

She woke up to her own sheets - finally - and the sun shown through the window and warmed her back as she curled to her side, her knees bent up to her chest. It had been the first time in days that she had stayed in bed past sunrise. She really was not sure how Jenny did it all those years.

Jenny...

The long strands of golden hair lingered on the pillow beside her and she smiled at the memory of her friend who held her through the night as she cried. She could still feel the way her heart pounded when she flew into the room and threw herself to the floor by the bed, sobbing violently into her hands. The blond had wordlessly lifted her by the elbow and led her onto the bed, brushed back the brunette hair with her thin hands, waited until the shaking subsided and listened patiently as she recounted her encounter with their new master of the house.

She swung her legs onto the floor and sighed. Time to confront her demons, or rather one single demon, she supposed.

Her layered lace sleeves felt heavy as she pulled her arm through and she missed the mobility that the simple cotton dresses had granted her. The sides of her hair was pinned back and after looking herself once in the mirror, she stepped out of her quarters, walking right by the books that she had previously begged for.

The key was loud even as she turned it as slowly as she could. Normally she wouldn't bother with such measures of security, but after his little display last night, she could not be sure exactly what that lecherous fiend was capable of. She closed her eyes and took a long deep breath. She could do this. She could face him. She did nothing wrong...

"Lady Blair." She turned at the sound of her name from his lips. There was also the matter of explaining the situation...

"Nathaniel. I suppose you heard." It was difficult to meet his eye knowing that she had been lying to someone whom she genuinely believed to be a good person, despite his mistakes. She would look into that later, but for now, she had her own apologies to make. "I am so so sorry for deceiving you. You must understand. You and Chuck were strangers moving into our house and we knew nothing of you and-" All right, so perhaps she did not do any of this for political or logical reasons, but Nathaniel certainly did not have to know that.

He smiled gently, something she was familiar with and she let out a sigh of relief. "It is perfectly all right. I understand completely and I must say that it's downright clever. Now, may I escort you to breakfast, milady?" He offered his arm and she accepted it with a grin. If things went her way, she could see this as the next thirty years of her life...

***

He had a headache and he wanted nothing more than to have this woman shut the hell up. Lady Waldorf had swept in like a storm this morning, insisting on a proper breakfast for them both. When he first met her, he wondered briefly how Blair would have managed to continue her charade. Their features were undeniably similar, from the dark brown hair to their large chocolate eyes. She must have gotten her full lips from her deceased father though, because as Lady Waldorf flapped her thin, rouged lips, he had absolutely no desire to pay attention.

"Would you like more tea, Lord Bass? Jenny, come fill the lord's cup!" He rested his chin on his palm as he smirked up at the servant girl he had been dining with for the past few days. The poor thing was shaking like a leaf and nearly knocked over the porcelain as a result. "Oh, what is the matter with you, girl? I certainly hope you did not behave in such a manner while I was gone!"

"Oh, absolutely not, Lady Waldorf. Jenny was positively delightful and behaved quite ladylike." He looked up at her while she stood beside him, trying so desperately to get her wits about her. The poor thing, she was merely collateral damage. "Honestly, I do not blame Jenny for anything that may have occurred during my visit. And really, it has been a quiet few days. Everything was run quite smoothly, so much so that I would hardly notice anything amiss." Her pale eyes darted to her mistress and to every corner of the room before landing on him. He nodded, hopefully conveying the fact that he did not blame her for her mistress' idea of fun. Who knew though, because he had hardly ever had the opportunity to bestow forgiveness. He turned back to his... could he say hostess? Technically, he ruled over her now. "Lady Waldorf, I insist that you waive the formalities and call me by my given name."

"Well, Lord Charles, if you insist-"

"Mother, no one alerted me of your return!" His eyelids snapped wide open when he beheld her in all her glory, dressed in plain jewels and cloths, but still more stunning to him than the ladies who batted their eyelashes at him at royal balls. He caught her eyes, which instantly narrowed in hatred and suspicion. He snarled back at the sight of her arm on that of his best mate. Of course she would already have the poor boy wrapped around her manipulative finger, besotted by her very presence.

"Oh, don't interrupt, dear. It is rude." Ever the gentleman, Nathaniel pulled out a chair for his arm accessory before sitting down at the table himself. All the while, Eleanor looked on approvingly. "Lord Charles was just telling me about how he spent his time here in my absence. I do hope you have been kind and hospitable rather than up to your old tricks." The mother-daughter pair exchanged a meaningful look and Chuck couldn't help but find himself intrigued by how the girl must have behaved as a child, how mischievous and full of life she must have been.

He marvelled at how her face remained perfectly stoic and pleasant. "It has been... uneventful, mother." She hardly spared him a glance and he was impressed, since his own best mate was shaking his head and glaring at him in a way that may have seemed subtle to a blind man.

"Yes," he agreed, keeping his eyes on Nathaniel in hopes that he could reassure him enough to stop his seizing. "It has been uneventful."

"Yes well, I hope we keep it that way, shall we?" The lady returned to her tea. "Jenny! Now where is that girl? She has been moving as a sloth all morning."

"Oh mother, do not blame Jenny. I kept her up late last night after-" Her eyes drifted to his and he knew exactly what she had recalled and looked away. "-after I ripped my dress by accident. I was so distraught that Jenny stayed awake to mend it for me right away."

***

"Wait, Waldorf." Before she could utter a word, Blair was pulled into her father's old office by the elbow and the door was shut. She shrugged out of his hold, and yes, she knew because only he would have the audacity to manhandle her in such a way. She recognized his touch and was disgusted with herself.

"Why? So you may assault me again? Mind yourself, Bass. My mother is home now and Nathaniel knows of my true self and does not care. If you try anything, I will scream." She walked by the windows and made no effort to escape. After all, she knew that if it came down to it, her small frame could never overpower his.

He breathed a sigh and closed his eyes. "Must you always make things so difficult, girl?" His boots echoed within the high ceilings and wallpapered walls as he walked towards his desk and poured himself a glass of scotch. Blair could not help but roll her eyes because of course, alcohol was exactly what this situation required. "All I was about to suggest was that we call a truce. I will admit that I behaved in a manner unfit of a man of my position but you have also deceived me, or at leasted attempted to do so, for days." Her eyes burned with the humiliation of knowing how foolish she must have seemed in his eyes if he had known all along.

So as her cheeks burned and her eyes grew bright, she lashed out in defense. "Oh, how generous! So you think that what you did to me is equivalent to a small ruse? I doubt popular opinion would agree-"

"Popular opinion would agree that I can do with you what I will! Did you not hear your mother, Blair? Even she submits to me so don't think for a second that I will tolerate any more of your disobedience only because I have been patient thus far. In fact, I could take you right now and no one would be able to say a word against me." Before his hand could find her waist, she ran behind the desk and gripped the back of the wooden chair. Chuck Bass had never had to force himself on a woman and the fear in her eyes was shaming. He leaned his head back with a sigh. "This is not how this conversation was supposed to go."

"Oh yes, I am sure conversation was what you had in mind."

"Please, if I wanted you I could buy a hundred, a thousand girls just like you."

"Well then please feel free to return to your whorehouse and leave us alone."

"Lucky for you I am sticking around so either you get used to it and accept my peace offering or we can battle this whole thing out. Do keep in mind that your fate, in combination with everyone else's in this household, rests in my hands."

His eyes drifted to the way she chewed her lower lip and suddenly he remembered exactly how it felt against his, how she tasted and smelled like when she breathed on his face. He hardly ever found anyone endearing, but he could not help himself as he watched her furrow her brows and stomp her foot before muttering, "fine."

Pleased and somewhat frightened at the realization of his close observation, he nodded wordlessly and opened the door to let her out, backing away as she walked by. Her wide skirts brushed against his foot and he felt the tremor all the way up his spine, though he dismissed it as a repercussion from his alcoholic binge the night before.

Still, it appeared as though he required a doctor for his nausea.

***

"Nathaniel?" Nathaniel Archibald looked up from his seat across from Chuck, broken out of his reverie at the sound of his name.

"Yes, Chuck?"

"For how long do you think father would punish me were we to leave this place immediately?" The day was warm and the Bass heir had left the top of his shirt open, his jacket just hanging from his shoulders. Nathaniel thought he looked every bit the pirate prince he was.

"Surely you would not dare to directly disobey Lord Bass. You must know that the cost for that is more than we can pay." He thought about how much Bartholomew had helped his own father and how, in so many ways, had acted as his own father that the thought of betrayal was nearly painful. Yet, Chuck was his brother, after all. "What is the matter, Chuck? We have not even been here a fortnight."

"Aye, and I am already bored." The captain's boots crossed on the surface of the desk and he had leaned back as the very picture of inpropriety. "This country lifestyle does not bode well for my health. Certainly, there must be something we can say to persuade the old man to change his mind."

"This visit is not all bad, Chuck." He thought about the way Lady Blair smiled at him as they rode through the streets of the town, how delightful she had been with the simplest of trinkets and could not help but smile himself. "I do hope that you are more considerate in your words when you converse with our lovely hostesses."

"Never knew you had a thing for old widows, Nathaniel." He ignored the chiding. No one knew him quite like Chuck did. "Yes, I know you are absolutely smitten with the girl, but just tell me how long this will last so I can prepare to set sail again. I have decided since this stay is a punishment for my lifestyle, father could hardly do worse to punish me for abandoning my punishment."

"How long?"

"Your infatuation, Nathaniel. Your fascination. How long before you seal the deal and we can head off as we do." No one knew him like Chuck did, but on the same token, no one knew Chuck like he did. He could detect the slight edge in his voice, as though he had bit down in the back of his mouth and fought the words out.

"That is crude, Chuck. Even for you. Lady Blair is... different. Sweet, beautiful, clever, unlike any of the girls we have ever encountered."

"I recall you saying the exact same words about Serena."

It was not fair, revisiting that saga of their lives. Their affair had been short-lived, the attraction was instant but the sparked burnt out and the excitement faded. The pressure of a courtship was suffocating and neither was prepared for it. Still, he held a fondness for her. With Blair, it was easy. No one knew about them (not that there was anything to know about yet) and it seemed no one cared. She was warm and welcoming and when she had kissed him gently and shyly on the cheek before running off, laughing into the meadow, his heart fluttered at the sight of her with her dress billowing about her.

"At any rate, I advise, for your own good, Nathaniel, that you make your affair with this girl as short as possible." At that, Nathaniel was surprised. Chuck hardly ever interfered with his relations. If anything, he encouraged them. "The girl is full of tricks, Nathaniel. She will run circles around your head and the next thing you know, you will wake up one day a married man shackled for the rest of your life. Goodness knows that Eleanor Waldorf is eager to find the girl a husband."

"Would that be so terrible, Chuck?" It was in that moment that he knew there was something beneath the surface between Chuck and the current object of his affections. The way his eyes flew to meet his and the way his jaw worked beneath his cheek. He was not sure what it was but he was certain that, if nothing else, the girl had managed to get under his skin.