Author's Note: Again, your reviews are so encouraging! I've never gotten such a positive response to a story before and I'm so grateful to everyone who's reading! Hope you all like chapter seven. It's gonna be a doozy.

Chapter Eight
"Covered ground
Just to reach your house
I know we need to talk
But I can't catch my thoughts
Insides gripped
Scared of what you'll think
Words I can't repeat
Could change all we've got
Set it off
Someone better hit the alarm
Someone better help me disarm myself
I don't want no one else
All I want is you."
-Athlete

"I feel like I haven't seen you forever."

That Friday night found Blair seated across Nate at a trendy Japanese restaruant. The walls around them were covered by a taut papery material, with cultural symbols and cherry blossoms painted onto them in black paint. A paper lantern, dimly lit, hung just above them, casting Nate's face into a slight shadow. The comfortable booth underneath them was upholstered in red fabric and a little tea candle flickered between, causing their eyes to dance and swoon.

Blair smiled kindly at Nate's comment, saying, "I know, school's been so crazy." Over the table she took her hand in his, "But we're together now."

Her words were almost edging toward acidic as she spoke to him. He was so convincing in his act of wanting to be a doting boyfriend. It almost made her worry that everything she had been planning and thinking about was a bad idea. Maybe he did like her, she tossed the idea around in her brain. She had thought he would have been less of a perfect boyfriend since she knew his dad was forcing him into it, but he wasn't. Upon picking her up he had complimented her on how pretty she looked. And after an excruciating two hours of deciding what to wear and a meticulous time at doing her make-up and hair, she felt like this compliment was much deserved. Following that he opened every door for her, held her hand, kissed her discreetly on the cheek in the cab, and stared at her adoring over their chopsticks and sushi rolls.

It made her so happy and so angry at the same time.

After all, she did like Nate- she loved him- but she was sure that their date would fuel her anger to hurt him. Instead, it only made her question her own actions. Was she making a mistake? Had she gotten everything wrong?

All through dinner she had convinced herself otherwise. Even if they were having a conversation she was talking herself into not liking him, into being even more pissed off at him.

Nate is being threatened into dating me.

He said so himself that he didn't want to go along with it.

The Captain said he needed him to date me for my mother.

My mother is on this too.

Nate doesn't really love me.

All these smiles and kisses and looks and words are made up.

He said it himself - he likes Serena.

With that the thought, the image of her best friend and Nate standing in the kitchen of Nate's house, eyes locked, laughing and touching each other any chance they got, entered her mind. And just like that her anger multiplied. She put all of her energy into surpressing these romantic feelings she had for Nate, and she put up a shield to any and all compliments. She reacted accordingly to his romantic gestures, but her heart ignored them. She knew what it was like to get hurt. That's what had happened when she let herself believe her parents were in love, when she allowed herself to think they were a happy family. That's what had happened when she had trusted Serena. She just got hurt. So she channeled all her will-power and followed the initial outline of her plans for Nate and Serena.

And that was the single thing that got her through dinner.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

After having gotten a quick bite to eat at a small cafe not too far from Dan's house, he and Serena walked through Central Park, trying desperately to pull at the straws of conversation. She was grasping for things to talk about, things that Dan would understand and relate too, things that weren't about Blair, Nate, or the Upper East Side. Meanwhile, Dan had given up on his quest to help her along with the conversation, finding it difficult to listen to anything she was saying. No matter what the topic was she ran rampant with it, talking in a way that reminded him of an ADD ridden toddler. He nodded and made appropriated noises in all the right places, but he gave up responding intelligently. It didn't matter though, because all of her topics turned to Blair or Nate somehow, and he'd find himself distracted and tense, and she barely noticed, talking and talking and talking on and on.

It baffled him to think he had been interested in her.

Sure, Serena van der Woodsen was beautiful- like a Greek goddess in many ways- but he realized, that's all he knew of her. And like a goddess she seemed, despite her erratic behavior, to be a little commanding and slightly selfish. He had been drawn to her by beauty, captured by flirtation and intrigue. And now that they were getting to know each other, he got the impression that she was shallow and a little too wild. It was as if she was on a constant sugar-high, and it made him feel tired.

Not sure whether or not she truly was shallow, or whether or not they just wouldn't work out together, Dan wasn't sure. He went along with the date though, trying to give her a fair chance.

"Oh my God!" Serena exclaimed as they neared the boathouse near Central Park South.

Dan was sure she was going to jump into a twisted tale of how she, Nate, and Blair had fed imported French bread to the ducks in the lagoon when they were little, so he braced himself. But instead she grabbed his arm and pulled him across the pathway, closer to the water.

Her face was cracked in a smile and she said, "It's Blair and Nate!" She called their names as she neared them. "B! Natie!"

Feeling a little thrill of excitement run through him, Dan followed Serena, seeing that Nate and Blair were, indeed, standing by the lagoon. When he saw Serena, Nate smiled, but Blair looked a little tired. She saw Dan walking toward them slowly, a playful smile tugging at his mouth as Serena and Nate hugged. A small smile pushed it's way onto Blair's lips as well, even as she hugged Serena hello and Dan walked up to her. They tried very hard to hide their feelings, to prevent the smiles on their faces from revealing the truth. Serena and Nate hardly noticed, so thick was the proverbial bubble they were surrounded by themselves.

Blair was confused that she felt such immense relief to see Dan.

Upon his and Serena's arrival, she and Nate had been talking about Yale and their families, trying to force idle, easy chatter from their mouths. She had been bored and annoyed, leading to an overwhelming feeling of fatigue that clouded her mind. Until she saw Dan crossing the pathway over to her that is. Even as Nate and Serena hugged and laughed and chatted like toddlers, Blair felt her annoyance wash away, and the fatigue vanished along with it. She hugged Serena when she said hello, but her eyes remained on Dan, and his on her. She recalled their kiss in her closet and felt herself blushing.

She stopped herself then.

What is this? she demanded of herself. Blair Waldorf does not allow guys to have this affect on her, she does not allow them to make her blush unless she permits it!

She tore her eyes away from Dan to look at Nate, and saw that he and Serena also had their eyes locked together. He was looking at her so adoringly, and she was looking at him as if he were the answer to all of life's mysteries. And Blair felt a stabbing in the pit of her heart, she would not allow this kind of betrayal to take place unless she had the upper hand.

"What are you guys up to?" Serena asked excitedly, looking not unlike a small child on Christmas.

Showcasing traits not too different from that of a lioness, Blair put a territorial arm around Nate's waist and leaned against him, "We just went to Tokyo Chii's," she said with a dazzling smile. "What about you guys?"

"We went to Arnie's, this great cafe over by Dan's, and now we're walking around."

"Do you guys have anything planned?" Nate asked.

Serena glanced at Dan and then shook her head.

Nate offered, "We should all go to Starbucks or something- It's getting pretty cold out here."

"That's a great idea!" Serena nearly shrieked.

Dan and Blair exchanged a glance. Obviously they had no say in the matter.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sitting, crowded around a little table in Starbucks, Blair found herself actually having fun with Serena, Nate, and, of course, Dan. Their last double date had been a disaster, so she was surprised at how much she was enjoying everyone's company. Lately she couldn't stand Serena or Nate, and Dan was just a pawn in her game, but she was having fun with them. It felt like old times, but with a new friend, and new circumstances.

Dan, on the other hand, didn't feel so comfortable with Nate, who he hardly knew and pretty much hated. And he certainly wasn't comfortable sitting at a table with the girl he was supposed to be seeing, the best friend he was practically cheating on her with, and that girl's boyfriend. He wasn't at ease, but he was having fun. He was glad to joke around and be friendly with Nate and Serena if it meant Blair would smile the way she was. She hadn't stopped smiling since they had sat down. She giggled and talked and got excited and laughed loudly over the silliest things, but it made him feel like he was actually helping her. The Blair he saw now was a far cry from the Blair he had hated just a week before, and he felt like he was a part of that.

"Nate, you went to Cannes with my brother and me that year for my birthday, right?" Serena asked, the segway into some story of her and Nate as little kids, which would, without a doubt, branch off into about six hundred inside jokes.

Dan glanced over at Blair to see her reaction, and she looked his way too. The look he sent her was so deep that Blair felt chills run down her spine, along with a little thrill of excitement. He felt it too, and he tried not to smile too broadly at her as she tried to keep her face straight. She stared at him like that for some time, and then he noticed Serena cut off midsentence. He turned and looked at her.

"Blair, is that your foot?" she asked.

A little look of surprise crossed Blair's face as she realized she had been running her pointed toe up and down Serena's leg seductively. She masked it well though and said, "Whoops! I thought it was the table leg."

Serena looked a little unsure, but she launched back into her story. Dan realized Blair had been trying to play footsy with him, or something of the like, and he ended cracking up in laughter. This, in turn, made Blair giggle uncontrollably. They laughed and laughed until tears were streaming down their faces. It was funny, but not to the extent they were making it, but they couldn't stop laughing anyway. And for once Nate and Serena were left confused and out of the loop.

Who knew plotting against my boyfriend and best friend could be so fun, Blair thought to herself as she wiped away the tears that were, finally, from laughing too hard.

Author's Note: I'm not exactly thrilled with this chapter, but I do think it's necessary... At least the beginning and some of the end is. Despite what I think I hope you all liked it! Next chapter is coming soon! Thanks for reading and reviewing.