A/N: Sorry for the wait, as usual. I've been hit with the flu, so wasn't really feeling good enough to write for a few days. But alas, it's out, and I hope you like it! They're starting to built onto their foundation and it seems that they've found their groove. Let me know what you think and give me a review! And...I'm about to reach 100 reviews! Couldn't have done it without all of you. Cheers!

"Here."

Blair guided Seth's hand to reach under her shirt, where he felt his fingertips brush over the embroidery of her bra. Seth shivered. Throughout the past two weeks since their last superhero incident, Blair had been giving him lessons on how to touch her. He was still nervous as hell, but Blair was an excellent mentor when it came to these things, and always gave him plenty of encouragement. The lessons were getting more and more intense, as Seth found it increasingly difficult to resist completely giving in. He hardly had time to think when Blair suddenly lowered her lips to blow a breath of hot air into his ear, leaving him powerless and frozen, unable to respond except for the aching bulge in his pants.

"Well, hello there," Blair whispered with delight, satisfied that it barely took any effort at all to get a reaction out of him. She unbuttoned the top three buttons of her blouse effortlessly, leaving the rest to his imagination.

"Um…I'm thinking we may be ready to…you know, take it to the next level, so to speak," Seth stuttered, his face turning bright red.

Blair flashed him a wicked smile and kissed him, full and hard on the lips. She pushed at his tongue with her own, sending Seth into another world as she pressed her warm body against his. Seth's hands continued to rummage underneath her blouse, as if by instinct, and he found himself tugging and pulling against the buckle of her bra in attempt to make contact with the bare skin underneath. Blair pulled away just long enough to smirk at him knowingly, then snapped it off herself, barely flinching. Seth gasped as Blair snaked out of her bra, leaving her completely naked underneath her blouse. He could make out the outlines of her body, full and beautiful, and he closed his hands around her breasts and ran his fingers along her cleavage. She moaned softly as his fingertips glossed over her nipples, and she kissed him even more hungrily in response, encouraging him to keep going. Blair reached down to unzip his pants, and then remove its button, revealing Seth's line of curly, dark hair which led down all the way down there. Just as Blair was about to reach further down, Seth grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"Pause," he gasped, his whole body stiffening in response. Blair sighed. They had been so close, and was making such good progress, but Seth still couldn't seem to let her get past his pants. She rolled her eyes and pouted, shifting her weight off him. Seth exhaled deeply as they both closed their eyes and counted to ten.

Seth glanced at Blair apologetically. "Blair, I'm – "

"Shh! Not another word. It's okay! It'll happen soon enough. You can't resist me for long, Cohen," she said, cutting him off and kissing him softly on the nose. She reached to put her bra back on, prompting Seth to gasp sharply as she teased him with a flash of her skin. Seth sat on his hands for 3 seconds, then, unable to control himself any longer, pounced on top of Blair, ready to finish what they had started. He was just wiggling out of his khakis when he heard someone knocking on the door loudly.

"Uh – um, Dad? I'm busy! Come back in an hour!" Seth yelled, throwing his shirt over his head and attacking Blair's mouth with an open kiss. She grabbed him by the ears and returned the kiss eagerly, the two of them giggling like children while they shared their spit.

"An hour, huh? Are you sure you'll last that long?" Blair teased, scratching him lightly on his belly with her fingernail and sending Seth groaning in agony.

"Seth, it's your mother. Is Blair in there with you?" Seth's mom's voice called back through the door.

"Jesus!" Seth jumped to his feet right away and grabbed his pants within seconds. He motioned for Blair to hide in his closet, throwing her clothes at her and closing the closet door on her as she tried to protest. He threw on his robe that had been hanging on the back of his chair, and tried to look as casual as possible as he opened the door.

"Um…what's up, Mom?" he said with an exaggerated yawn. "You just caught me in the middle of my – " he yawned again, for insurance, " – nap." He stood in the doorway, not bothering to invite her in.

"Well, I got back from the office early today so I was just wondering whether you and Blair wanted to go out for dinner, that's all." Kirsten glanced suspiciously into Seth's room. "Where is she?"

"Who? Oh – Blair? Um, I don't know. Maybe you can check at her home, you know, where she lives. Anyway, can't talk now, Mom. I'm just so tired. I'll let you know when I'm hungry, okay?" Seth said quickly, gently pushing his mom out of his room.

"Sure, Seth," his mom replied, turning around, "but next time you want to take a nap, you may want to get rid of the bra on your bed. Tell Blair I said hi."

Shit. Seth watched as his mom disappeared down the hallway. That was the worst cock block in the history of cock blocks, ever. He ran back into the room to let Blair out of his closet, but as soon as he'd opened the closet door, Blair threw her handful of clothes at his face.

"Ow! What the hell, Blair?" Seth whined as he handed her her stockings.

Blair snatched them from his hands and started putting them on angrily. "Don't what the hell me, you moron. You're the one who shoved your girlfriend into your closet while we were having sex!"

"Well technically, we weren't really having sex, considering we hadn't, you know," Seth explained, cocking his head to one side.

"Yes, believe me – I know," Blair responded, rolling her eyes and she wiggled back into her skirt and zipped it up. She ran her fingers through her hair in attempt to comb it out, while Seth climbed back into his own shirt.

"I'm sorry, Blair. It's not like I knew my mother would show up all of a sudden," he protested, passing Blair her bra.

Blair scowled at him as she cupped it around her, working underneath her blouse and doing the clasp at the back. "You know, if it weren't for your stupid video games, we could easily just stay at my place, and we would have had the entire afternoon to ourselves, completely uninterrupted."

"You were the one who said you wanted to finish solving the Origami killer case," Seth pointed out, his hands on his hips as he watched Blair put on the remaining pieces of her complicated outfit.

Blair finished fiddling with her vest, then sighed. Seth was right – he had gotten her hooked onto his stupid video games, as much as she hated to admit it. "This is pathetic. What have you done to me? All we do is stay in all day and play video games or have quasi-sex while your parents listen by the door," Blair complained.

"You make it sound like they're just lurking there or something, ears pressed to the door. Which is a really creepy thought, so I'd like to think it isn't true," Seth said, wrinkling his nose. "Well what do you suggest? We could always watch Breakfast at Tiffany's for the 97th time," he said sarcastically.

Blair narrowed her eyes at him. "My hobbies extend beyond watching Audrey movies, thank you very much." She pursed her lips as she tried to think of what they could do together that could make for time better spent. Her eyes drifted to the posters plastered on Seth's walls. "Right!" she declared, glancing at the clock in Seth's room. "It's only five, which means we've still got time."

"Time for what?" Seth replied, following Blair's gaze to his posters. "You want to go to a rock concert on a Wednesday afternoon, Blair?"

Blair looked at him as if he was the biggest idiot on earth. "No, Seth. Where I want to go, is a classy, civilized place, filled with culture and art – something you're obviously not familiar with."

"Okaaay…that sounds dangerously boring. What did you have in mind?" Seth asked tentatively.

"I'm taking you to the OCMA – it's nothing like the MET or the MoMA, but it'll do for now," Blair replied, picking up her smartphone to look up the directions. "You can drive. It's not that far. Oooh there we go," she exclaimed, squinting at her phone, "they've got a few pieces from Stanton Macdonald-Wright! That'll do." Blair looked up at Seth cheerfully.

"Uh – am I supposed to know who that is?" Seth asked blankly.

"Well, you should find yourself enlightened to learn that he was the co-founder of synchromism – an avant-garde art movement – in fact, one of the very first that caught on in America," Blair answered expertly. "You'll see when we get there. I'll lead. You can follow." Blair opened his bedroom door and made her way downstairs, and the two of them slipped out the door quietly in order to avoid another awkward confrontation with Seth's mother.

"Okay, just give me a moment. I'm just gonna stop to fill up my tank," Seth said, pulling into a gas station off the highway.

Blair rolled her eyes. "We're going to the art gallery, Seth, not on a road trip." She rolled down the windows to take a deep breath of the warm California air, and reapplied her lipstick. Just as she opened her mouth to yell at Seth to hurry it up, she noticed two familiar figures, huddled in the ghetto coffee shop attached to the station.

"Seth," she hissed at him, bending low so that she could keep herself concealed in the passenger seat. "Get over here!"

Seth pumped the last few drops of gas into his tank. "Just give me a moment, Blair. I know we're in a hurry, but I don't exactly get out much, so I'd prefer to make sure we have enough gas on the off chance that we get stranded on the 405."

Blair frowned deeply. "Forget about that right now!" She pointed to the two figures through the window. "See that?"

Seth squinted in the direction that Blair had pointed to. "Is that…Ryan? With – Summer?"

"That's what it looks like," Blair replied smugly.

"Well, let's go in then, ask them if they'd want to join us and admire the art of synthinism together," Seth declared, climbing back into his car to move it to the parking lot.

"It's synchromism, and – are you daft? We can't just march in there and be all like, hey what's up guys!" Blair exclaimed, her eyes wide opened, as Seth pulled into a parking spot. Seth gave her a blank stare, completely clueless as to what she meant. Blair gave an impatient sigh. "Come on, Seth, use your deductive logic – right, I forgot – you don't have any. Ryan and Summer sneaking around, having a coffee in the middle of nowhere…and where's Marissa? Does that not seem strange to you?"

Seth shrugged. "So they're hanging out without Marissa. What's the big deal? We're all friends, aren't we?"

Blair grabbed Seth by his head and turned it so that they were both looking at the direction of Ryan and Summer's table. "Look at those two…Summer's hand on top of Ryan's…both their expressions so troubled and confused. It could only mean one thing – " Blair paused dramatically, waiting for Seth to answer.

" – that you've been playing too much LA Noire?" Seth suggested with a laugh.

"No, you dimwit – that they're having an affair," Blair answered indignantly.

Seth leaned in to get a closer look. "You really think they would do that to Marissa?" he asked Blair doubtfully.

"Honey, you're talking to someone from the Upper East Side – and I know people are capable of a lot worse than we give them credit for. But there's only one way to find out." Blair turned around and rummaged in her Bottega tote bag until she pulled out her Chanel sunglasses and her Hermès headscarf. "Good thing I always come prepared," she said with a smirk, and putting on her disguise.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Blair? I thought you wanted to introduce me to a world of art and civilization," Seth nagged, holding onto her arm lightly.

Blair reached over and threw the hood of Seth's hoodie over his head. "I did say I wanted to give you a taste of the Blair Waldorf world. And what's one thing that Blair Waldorf is good at aside from admiring avant-garde art? It's sleuthing. Come on, let's go," Blair replied with a sparkle in her eye as she climbed out of Seth's Range Rover.

Seth sighed in exasperation as he followed his girlfriend into the coffee shop. Blair motioned for Seth to sit down at the table directly next to them, where they were separated by an arrangement of plastic plants. The two of them bowed low, and Blair shooed away the waitress like a maniac when she tried to take their order. They strained to hear only bits and pieces of their conversation.

"We can't talk to her about this. She'll freak out. She'll never forgive me!" Blair heard Summer whine.

"But we know it's for the best. I don't know how much longer I can take this. Besides…all this sneaking around…she's gonna figure out what we're up to sooner or later, anyway," Ryan replied in a low whisper.

"I'm such a bad friend!" Summer wailed, while Blair rolled her eyes. They were just about to sneak back out to figure out what to do with the news when they found themselves face to face with none other than Marissa Cooper herself.

"Hey Blair. Hi Seth," Marissa greeted them cheerfully. She eyed them suspiciously. "Why are two dressed like that in the middle of the day?"

Seth reacted quickly and tried to pull her out of the coffee shop before she caught Summer and Ryan. "Umm…nothing special. Just uh – a roleplay we do once in a while…a little somethin' somethin' to spice up our relationship, right Blair?"

Blair bit her lip, unsure of whether she wanted to cover for the two cheating friends. "Seth," she started, but it was too late. Marissa's eyes widened as she caught sight of Ryan and Summer, still whispering ferociously to each other. She marched right up to their table and kept her voice as calm as possible as she confronted them.

Seth threw his hands on his head and followed after her, trying to do damage control. "Marissa, it's not what it looks like." Ryan and Summer both looked up in surprise as soon as they heard Seth's voice. "Hi Summer, hi Ryan. I'll explain all of this later. God, how on earth did this dingy coffee shop suddenly become the hottest spot in Newport? No offense," she said to the waitress, that had now stopped what she was doing to watch the impending showdown.

"Ryan. Summer," Marissa nodded at the two of them coldly. "And what brings you two here? I thought you were studying with Seth?"

Seth rushed forward and raised his hand. "Uh yup. That's me. Uh, we were studying together when all four of us decided that we wanted to take a trip to the art museum to see some of the finest pieces of the symomism movement. And we just happened to stop here for a coffee. Isn't that funny, Ryan? Fancy seeing Marissa here too. Did you not tell her we were going to the art museum? I'll bet she would love it there," Seth rambled, trying to disseminate the bomb.

"Seth, for the last time, it's synchromism, and I think Marissa deserves to know the truth. Go on, Summer, tell your best friend what you did to her," Blair said to Summer as a look of guilt spread over her face. "Tell her you stooped low enough to have an affair with your best friend's boyfriend."

"What?" Ryan and Summer exclaimed in unison.

"What?" Marissa repeated hollowly, moving away from the table.

"What, Blair? Come on, you don't know that for sure," Seth pleaded with his girlfriend. He turned to Ryan. "Ryan, you've got to say something, man."

Summer stood up and turned to Marissa urgently. "Coop, it's not what you think. Blair's got it all wrong!" Marissa avoided her cries of protest and turned her head to one side.

"I think it's apparent to all of us here what is happening. You two have a thing for each other, and thought you could hide it from Marissa. The boyfriend and the best friend. Real classy," Blair said through her teeth, feeling a familiar twinge of anger and disbelief.

"Woah Blair, you're not really helping here," Seth said to her, pulling her aside gently. He watched his own girlfriend's expression with concern, then turned back to the drama that was unravelling in front of them.

"Just stop it, Blair, okay?" Ryan said to her angrily. "You don't know what's going on here." Blair stayed silent with her arms crossed as Seth put his arm around her to keep her calm. Ryan got out of his seat and took a step towards Marissa. "Marissa…Summer and I…we were meeting up here secretly today to talk about you," he said pointedly, looking right at her. Blair rolled her eyes in disbelief in the background, but Ryan continued speaking. He glanced over at Summer nervously. "Look, Summer and I have been noticing that you've been acting…strange lately. Not yourself," he started.

Summer also took a step closer to approach Marissa. "And we found this in your locker, Coop," Summer said, pulling out a bag which contained a bottle of vodka and some jewellery that still had their price tags on them. Blair raised her eyebrows in surprise and Seth gave a low whistle. Marissa's face turned bright red, lunging forward to retrieve the bag, but Ryan snatched it away just in time.

"Give that to me! It's mine!" Marissa cried out, her voice breaking as tears streamed down her face.

"Are you crazy, Marissa?" Ryan asked, struggling to keep his voice low. "I mean, drinking in class? Stealing? That's a new low, even for you."

"Shut up, Ryan! You don't know me," Marissa responded through her tears. She turned to Summer angrily. "And you, Summer? I thought you were on my side!"

Summer broke down in desperate cries. "I am, Coop! I just wanted to get you help!" Blair walked over to pull Summer to her side to comfort her.

Marissa gave a cold laugh. "By outing me to my boyfriend and your new friends? So what is this, an intervention?" she asked mockingly. "I don't need your help." She looked at Ryan squarely in the eye. "Give me my stuff back."

Ryan pursed his lips and pulled the bag further away from her, out of her reach. His action made Marissa completely lose it, sending her shrieking and clawing at Ryan's arm. "I SAID, GIVE IT BACK TO ME!"

Ryan laid the bag on the table and grabbed Marissa by her wrists. "Would you look at yourself? You need help, Marissa! Just come with us to see someone. It'll be alright! You can't go on like this!"

"What are you, my mom?" Marissa yelled at him. "All of you – you're on her side, aren't you? She told you to do this, didn't she? This is all part of her plan to get me to see a psychologist. She thinks I'm a lunatic!" She gave up struggling with Ryan and crouched down on the floor, crying openly now.

"She wants to help you, Coop. We all want to help you," Summer cried helplessly at Blair's side. Ryan sat back in his seat and pounded his fist on the table in frustration. It was Blair who finally spoke up.

"You know, you're lucky you even have a mom who cares enough to make you see someone. Back where I'm from, mothers on the Upper East Side would be so embarrassed to have a daughter like you that they'd rather die than have you seek help. They'd send you away just so they could protect their own reputation."

The other friends looked at each other quietly, unsure of what to say. Blair continued, softening her tone. "It'll help you know – seeing somebody. My best friend back home used to get into all kinds of trouble. Her brother tried to kill herself and ended up in the Ostroff Centre – the place to be for troubled teens. But now, they're okay. They took some time off to figure things out, and they're back with their family and friends." She paused, observing Marissa's reaction. "You need this, Marissa. Can't you see how worried Ryan and Summer are? At least do it for them."

Marissa's breathing slowed, but tears continued to fall out of her eyes. "You don't understand. With my parents' divorce, and my dad's legal troubles…nothing's right this year. I just can't handle it." She put her head in both hands and sobbed, while Ryan placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I know it doesn't seem possible, but you'll get through it. My dad left my mom just last year to be with a male model. My boyfriend of God-knows-how-long and my best friend slept together and left me hanging without a clue. And now look at me." She gave a brief glance over at Seth, who was hearing much of this information for the first time. "Good as new – with that muppet over there. It sucks what you're going through, but it gets better. Plus you have all of us here with you. We're all on your side. Just trust me." Blair held out a hand to Marissa, offering to help her up.

Marissa looked at Blair's hand hesitantly, then finally took hold of it, pulling herself up. She wiped away the last of her tears with both hands, and then onto her skinny jeans. "So you don't think I'm a psycho?"

Blair rolled her eyes. "You're an alcoholic and a chronic shoplifter. You'd fit right in on the Upper East Side," she said to her lightly. Marissa gave a small smile and Summer rushed out to give her a hug in relief. Ryan stood beside her, a protective arm around Marissa, letting out a huge sigh himself. He mouthed a thank-you to Blair, who nodded at him in acknowledgement.

Blair and Seth watched as Marissa climbed into Summer's car, Ryan in the driver's seat. He waved back at them, and the three drove off to Marissa's home after making an appointment with the psychologist. After the unfolding of the day's dramatic events, Blair and Seth decided to stay for a cup of coffee before heading back home.

"So much for an afternoon of art appreciation," Seth joked, taking a large sip of the house brew. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the foul taste that it left in his mouth.

"Well, at least we got Marissa the help she needed," Blair answered, who opted for a bottled Perrier water instead.

Seth watched her as she delicately placed the cap back onto the bottle. "You didn't tell me that your dad was, you know," Seth started.

"Gay?" Blair offered. Seth shrugged, afraid that he was treading on dangerous waters. "Well, not everyone comes from a wholesome all-American family like yours," Blair replied with a smirk.

"Hey, I come from a half-Jew, half-Protestant home. Not the kind of all-American family you're thinking of," Seth protested, grabbing the bottle from Blair's hands and taking a sip to wash out the sour taste left from the burnt coffee.

"Right. Because nothing spells family drama like mismatched religious backgrounds," Blair retorted, snatching the bottle back.

"Hey, don't judge. It gets pretty intense during the holidays. But I forget that you're a recent addition – you don't know about Chrismukkah," Seth remembered, growing excited. "It's alright – you'll find out soon enough."

Blair gave him a cunning smile. "Are you so confident? It's only May, after all. Who says I won't get rid of you when summer comes around? I'm kind of sick of you already," she teased with a smile.

"Well, Blair, I think you're underestimating the good ol' Cohen charm," he said to her, reaching out to give her a kiss on her nose. "You're not getting off that easy." Blair wiggled her nose at him, narrowing her eyes playfully. Seth sat back and took both her hands, admiring Blair's calm, beautiful smile in the low light. "This is nice, you know. We should do this more often."

Blair laughed. "Do what? Convince people to get psychiatric help? Spy on our friends?"

"No. Talk," Seth answered meaningfully. The two of them looked at each other, falling silent for a moment. Seth look anoter drink of his ruined coffee while Blair sipped from the straw of her Perrier, the two of them holding hands like an old couple, saying nothing at all until they climbed back into Seth's car, marking the end of the day's adventure.