Chapter 1

October 2011...

Blair accepted the offered hand, and gracefully stepped out of the limo. Hundreds of cameras snapped away, and she happily posed and smiled for them. She hadn't grown tired of this yet. Blair waved and blew kisses into the sea of flashing lights.

She was brought back into harsh reality when Jack's arm slid around her waist. "You're sure my nephew will be here?" he whispered into her ear.

"He loves Lily," Blair muttered under her breath, all the while smiling. "Of course he'd be at her wedding anniversary party. Remember our ground rules, Jack. Your hand should be in the region below my chest and above my butt. So move your hand up now."

"I thought you wanted this to look realistic," he sneered back.

"How realistic would it look if I threw up on you?" Blair snapped back softly. "Move your hand now."

His hand complied and moved upward by a couple inches.

"Only time your hand can go there is when Chuck is right next to us," Blair said, her eyes blazing. "We won't stay long. We're just going to stay long enough so that he sees us together and then we'll leave."

Blair flashed one last smile to the crowd, and, with Jack in tow, entered the doors to the Palace Hotel.

This was not the worst thing she ever did, pretending to be someone's girlfriend to hurt someone else. She's done so many horrible things, that it was literally impossible to count it all up. She had made Serena Van der Woodson's life a living Hell when Serena had returned from boarding school. Whether or not it was justified was besides the point. She had treated Jenny Humphrey like dirt and had played a titanic role in corrupting her. She had spread rumors (which later became true) about Rachel Carr and Dan Humphrey. She had slept with Carter Baizen partly to get revenge. The list was endless.

And now she could add this to it. Attending her BFF's mother's wedding anniversary party with the man who had attacked her for the sole purpose of hurting Chuck.

Serena, Nate, and Chuck were standing together near a table. Jack nudged Blair gently with his elbow and, with his chin, motioned towards the small group.

Blair turned and looked over in the direction he had pointed. Her eyes narrowed. She reached behind and pushed Jack's hand down a few inches. A determined, forced smile appeared on her lips.

Serena was the first to see them. "Blair!" she gasped, glaring at Jack. "You can't bring him here. This is my mom's party. You know how she feels about him." Serena hated that she was being forced in the middle of Blair and Chuck's feud yet again.

"We won't be here long," Blair promised, her eyes trained on Chuck. "In fact, we're about to leave. We're going to go to Victrola and I was going to dance for Jack."

"Blair, that's not the type of place you should be going to," Nate said nervously. "C'mon, Chuck, let's find Lily and Rufus." He grabbed Chuck's arm and tried to pull him along, but Chuck refused to move.

"I know you're just mad and hurt over what I did," Chuck said softly, as he walked towards Blair, closing the distance between them. "But Jack? That's low. You're hurting yourself more than you're trying to hurt me."

"Your sluts in Europe hurt you more than they hurt me," Blair snapped back angrily. She stepped up towards Chuck, leaving Jack's embrace. "And just how many STDs did you get from them? I hope they're painful and not curable."

"Nothing could be as painful as living with you and hearing you whine about not being introduced to the right people," Chuck retorted.

"You want to talk painful?" Blair growled. "How about living with a man with mommy and daddy issues? Do you make your sluts dress like Lily? Do you call out Lily's name when you're screwing them?"

"You make me sick," Chuck snarled back. A devious glint came to his eye. "You make me want to throw up. But you know all about that don't you, Blair. How's your diet?"

"Oh crap," Serena breathed.

Blair's head twisted to the left. She glared accusingly at Serena. "How's your liver? Are you still drinking yourself to death? Too bad no one can ever love you and no one will ever give you parts of their liver once your liver dies."

"It's a good thing that money solves everything then," he snapped back. "And the one thing it couldn't solve for me, you were more than willing to step up to bat."

Blair gasped and recoiled with horror. "You're a Basshole!"

"This has gone long enough," Serena muttered. "Come on, Blair, let's go. The two of you need to go back to your own separate corners."

The words would not come to her. But she didn't need words. Blair grabbed Serena's glass of wine and, smiling sweetly, raised it above Chuck's head and tilted it sideways. "You look thirsty, Chuck. Here, have a glass on me. In fact, have two." She snatched Nate's glass and added it on.

Blair wiped some of the wine off Chuck's cheek with her finger and put it in her mouth. "Mmm, yummy. Red wine on a chicken. Tell Lily and Rufus they have exquisite taste."

"Blair," Serena winced. She pulled Blair back, and this time Blair didn't resist.

Blair raised her eyebrows at Chuck, challenging him to add more to the fire. She tilted her chin up defiantly.

"Chuck, don't cause an even bigger scene," Nate ordered. He wedged his body in next to Serena so that both he and Serena stood between the bickering couple.

"Blair, you're coming with me to see my mom and Rufus. You are welcome to stay for the party but you will be on the right side of the room all night and Chuck will take the left side. Nate, take Chuck to his room and help him clean up and cool off. Jack, walk yourself out or I will get security here to walk you out," Serena said, her voice filled with impatience. She didn't even wait to see if they followed her orders. Serena firmly put her hands on the back of Blair's shoulders and guided her to the far side of the room.