Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Gossip Girl!

Blair Waldorf absolutely hated it when people were late. She was a firm believer in either being exactly on time or being early since it was better than being late. Tardiness was not something she would stand for and as soon as Chuck Bass got his slow ass here she would give him a proper tongue lashing until he understood that when she told him to do something he was to do it unless he wanted to face the consequences and if he was as smart as he claimed to be then the teenage billionaire would know that you do not want to test the patience of the only daughter of Eleanor Waldorf. Especially if said girl was having a mental breakdown due to events she would rather not mention out loud for the world to hear and gossip about before she managed come up with a counter attack to anything someone might say to her.

The brunette Queen huffed in exasperation when she peered out of her window at five after seven only to see that her ride was still a no show. Of course there was a car waiting outside and the boy waiting for her would have been welcome at any other time and yet this was not any other time and all she wanted was for the long lacrosse player to fall in to a crack and be swallowed by the earth. He wouldn't be missed by her if that happened for many reasons. After binging and purging for the second time last night Blair had decided the best thing to do about the Nate and Serena situation would be pretending they did not exist until a time when she could come up with a suitable revenge to cause them the pain they had her. A part of her wanted to forgive the only boy she has ever loved and yet the stronger more stubborn side of her personality she had inherited from her mother warned her that doing so would be a stupid mistake.

Chuck knew he was going to get an earful from Blair about being late, but he had known her for so long that he had a few tricks up his sleeves to stop her little rant before it could even get started. Having grown up with Blair Waldorf he had picked up a few crucial details which helped him live as long as he had without facing her wrath every single time he did something which she claimed to be wrong or heinous or whatever her word for the day happened to be. That is why when he realized that he wouldn't be arriving on time, he'd had Arthur stop the get her favorite coffee, a box of truffles, and of course the one thing that would guarantee forgiveness the pink peonies. These were his safety net since they happened to be her one weakness. Being the way he was and being Chuck Bass he'd had to use this type of bribery a lot in the past. How else do you think he helped Nate keep his relationship going this long? Every tip Nathaniel had ever gotten about relationships had oddly enough come from Chuck Bass the one man who didn't believe in relationships. He was more of a wham bam thank you mam kind of guy and it worked well for the teenaged playboy.

Finally the limo pulled up in front of Blair's home and Chuck opened the door as he prepared to go up there and grovel for her forgiveness. There is nothing Blair Waldorf loved more was for someone to admit defeat to her about one thing or another. It was the perfectionist in her. Getting out of the limo and removing his Gucci sunglasses he headed towards the front door only to stop when he saw his best friend standing there leaning up against his parent's car. What on earth was Nathaniel doing here? If the Queen of Constance had known that her boyfriend would be waiting here then why did she ask Chuck to pick her up? This just got more confusing by the second. Chuck had no idea what was going on since last night after heading back to the Palace he had been unable to get ahold of Nate.

"Nathaniel!" The shorter of the two males stated cheerily even though he was feeling anything but. "I feel like I haven't talked to you in forever man. You don't call, you don't write, I was beginning to wonder if you had decided to give living under a rock a try. It's nice to know that you are still alive and I can put a halt on the missing persons posters I was about to have printed up."

Nate grinned and smiled so wide anyone within a mile radius could see the whiteness of his teeth. "I've had a lot on my plate dude, but maybe after school we can catch up and hang out. What are you doing here anyways? Are you working on a scheme that you need Blair's help with?"

"Something like that-" The only son of Bart Bass nodded getting ready to agree to those terms when the front door to the Waldorf penthouse slammed shut and out came Blair with a scowl on her face.

First she turned her attention to Nate. "Chuck will be unable to hang out with you tonight because we already have plans, but I am sure with Serena back in town you won't be lacking for plans. I heard that Cherie Chaplin's daughter is throwing a small private wedding and I know how you and Serena adore weddings and everything so it would probably be the perfect place for the two of you to get reacquainted."

Nate stood there with his mouth hanging open slightly. Never once had Blair ever been outspoken before. Sure she had been upset the night before, but she was Blair and her boyfriend (or was that now ex-boyfriend?) had thought she would forgive him. She always forgave him for whatever he did to her. It was something that had just always been and he never for a second honestly thought that would change. To be brutally honest Nathaniel Archibald figured she would be welcoming him back with open arms. Never would he have thought the dynamics of their entire relationship could or would change. Obviously he had gotten in to the habit of taking advantage of her forgiveness and now it came back to bite him in his lacrosse playing ass.

"And you," Her eyes narrowed as she spun around to glare at Chuck. "Are five minutes late! You better have a better excuse than your usual 'I'm Chuck Bass' because that is not going to fly this time. I gave you direct instructions and you couldn't even call to let me know you would be late? Your little stunt as put my whole daily schedule back five minutes and everything is going to get messed up because you had to be your usual Bass-hole self!"

"I bring coffee, truffles, and peonies as a way of apologizing for my lateness." He smirked as she eyed the items in his hands suspiciously before taking them from him. "I had a rough start due to a late night and there was more traffic than anticipated. If my apology does not satisfy you then you can demand a better one later, but if you continue to complain then you are going to be later than you want and we couldn't have that now could we Waldorf?"

"This conversation is not over, but rather on an extended vacation Bass." She told him as she raised her chin defiantly and slid in to the limo with him giving Nate a shrug before following her.

The limo ride was quiet for the most part since neither had anything to say to the other. Well Chuck did have a few questions for Blair, but he doubted she would willingly answer them. With the way she was staring out the window she made it pretty clear talking was not on her mind, yet Chuck was curious and since when would he let a little think such as Blair not wanting to talk stop him from getting answers? "What the hell was that back there with my boy Nate?"

"I would rather not talk about it." Her voice was barely a whisper as she continued to gaze out the window.

Why couldn't heartbreak be as simple as binging and purging? Blair wished that she could simply throw up all of her feelings for Nate and be done with it. Living with this pain reminded her of the time she had food poisoning and her whole body hurt. The memory of her ex was like poison to every nerve ending in her body. All she could do was feel and for the first time in her life she was tempted to pull a Serena and Chuck and smoke or drink away her pain. To be numb would be better than this feeling everything.

"Aw did his shirt not match your skirt?" Chuck teased thinking his friends had a lovers spat about something silly and unimportant. He never could have guessed the truth even if he tried. "Or better yet, did he forget an anniversary?"

Snapping around in her seat Blair lashed out physically as she prepared to slap him, but he had seen the move coming and easily grabbed her wrist. Blair was never a violent person and yet she felt the need to hit someone and Chuck Bass seemed like a good place to start considering he was the closest thing to her. "He screwed Serena if you must know you nosey Bass-tard!"

The next few words out of his mouth were not what the Queen B would have expected. She'd thought for sure Chuck would make some comment about being proud of his 'boy' for tapping an ass even if it wasn't his girlfriend's and yet that is not what he said. "How did you found out?"

"He told me and wait," Blair paused to lock her gaze with his. Her jaw clenched in anger when a thought occurred to her. "You knew didn't you? Well of course you knew because it's not humiliating enough for me that it happened, but fate has to make damn sure that Chuck Bass had a good laugh at my expense. I bet you found it hilarious all those times I would talk about Nate and I losing our virginities together didn't you?"

"If I had told you can you honestly tell me you would have believed a word I said?" He told her bluntly in a low tone. It wasn't often Chuck Bass would say or do something which could be categorized as sweet or heartfelt, but in this moment he felt the need to be truthful with Blair because they had promised each other a long time ago that no matter what they would always be truthful to one another no matter what. "You would have hated me for destroying your relationship and I couldn't do that, not to you anyways. You are one of the only friends I have and believe it or not you rank a lot higher than Nate in my book. I know what kind of person I am and what kinds of things I do to people. If you had been anyone else other than Blair Waldorf I would have gone straight to Gossip Girl with this tidbit of juicy information and yet I didn't because I knew it would only serve to hurt you. No matter what you think of me you know as well as I do that I have never intentionally done something to hurt you and I never would."

Blair let her shoulders sag in defeat. She could not very well stay angry with him when he explained it like that. "I suppose I can forgive you this once Bass. You did have my best interests in heart unlike Serena and Nate so you are off the hook for this one. I do not fully forgive you yet, but if you are interested in a little pay back on Van Der Woodsen Barbie and her Archibald Ken doll then maybe I can pretend you never knew anything and we will be on even ground again. What do you say?"

The smile reserved only for a scheme appeared on his lips. "I would say, what did you have in mind Waldorf?"

TBC…

AN: I could not sleep after a procedure at the hospital and so I wrote this even though I couldn't post it. I know it is not the greatest chapter, but it helps to set things up for the story. I hope that you all like it. Anyways, let me know what you thought about this.

Please R&R like always!

Preview for the next chapter:

"Put me down Bass!" "Put me down right this instant!"

"And let you do what I know you were planning to go and do in the bathroom?" "I don't think so Waldorf."

"You are going to cause a scene!"

"No, you are going to cause a scene if you keep screaming and as much as I love being the center of attention I doubt you want this to show up on Gossip Girl. Now shut up, quit complaining, and be happy I am getting you out of here. Everyone needs to play hooky once in a while Blair or they turn in to dull robots of society."

"I'd rather be a robot than like you."

"I highly doubt that." "In fact you have just given me a brilliant idea. You are going to live a day in the life of Chuck Bass. I'll show you how to really live Waldorf and you can thank me later in private with much less clothing."