A/N: All of the characters are in their sophomore year at Yale University. Chuck and Nate are still the same age regardless of their careers. We will assume that their high school diplomas and their family connections allowed them to acquire said positions. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Reviews are highly appreciated!

The Rules Of Attraction


Chuck lay back in his chair and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Another case closed. Another perpetrator behind bars. He was getting good at this. He returned the case file to his filing cabinet and headed for the door. It was barely noon, but he needed the rest. He had spent the past week undercover on the streets of Brooklyn. The lack of sleep was definitely taking a toll on both his body and mind. His thoughts of rest brought a smile to his face only to be interrupted a few moments later by one of the interns, Daryl.

"Detective Bass! Congratulations on closing the case!" he said, ecstatic.

Chuck wrinkled his nose in confusion. He hadn't told anyone about closing the case. In fact, he hadn't even told Nate yet.

"I heard it from Amanda," Daryl said, ridding Chuck of his confusion.

Amanda. The other intern. That explained everything. That woman knew everything about everyone. In fact, there was a rumor a while back that Amanda was the notorious blogger Gossip Girl, although he had never been caught up in that world himself. Had the woman ever heard of the word privacy? Chuck sighed.

"Thanks, Daryl. I'm actually about to take the rest of the day off."

"Sure thing! I'll be here to hold down the fort!"

With that, Daryl returned to his desk and continued with his paperwork. Seeing Daryl brimming over with such enthusiasm, Chuck couldn't help but recall his initial excitement for the field. He still loved the chase and it sure as hell felt good putting a criminal behind bars, but there were certain aspects of solving crime that he could certainly live without. Witnessing the pain of the immediate family was always too much for him to bear. If there was anything that hit him close to home, it was the pain of losing a loved one or in his particular case – loved ones. He slowly opened the car door and climbed in. Just as he was about to put his key into the ignition, a voice called out to him.

"Detective Bass!"

Chuck frowned. He just wanted some rest. Was that too much to ask? Reluctantly, he climbed out of the vehicle to address the voice. Claire Waters. He truly wondered if his day could get any worse.

"Detective Bass!"

Chuck rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Can I help you with something, Miss Waters?" he asked.

She trailed her well-manicured index finger along his arm suggestively. Chuck shivered at her touch. Could she be any more obvious? He was getting tired of this. He had told her a thousand times that he wasn't interested.

"Unless this involves a homicide, I'm afraid I can't help you," he said as curtly as he could.

She paid no attention to his attempt to shun her, much to Chuck's dismay.

"Well, it could very well become murder," she said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Regardless of his opinion of her, she was still a citizen. He tried to act interested.

"How about you voice your concerns to Daryl? He'll look into it and contact me if it turns out to be a matter of importance."

She continued to protest, refusing to let go of his arm. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone waving at him. He didn't know that woman, did he? She was absolutely stunning. Soft wavy brown hair. Big brown eyes. A smile that could brighten anyone's day. And those legs! He could already feel himself breaking into a sweat. Apparently Claire noticed her beauty too because she pouted and whimpered at the sight of her. Not that he could blame her. Get a grip, Bass. Get a grip!


"Honey! I thought we had plans for lunch!"

Blair slowly walked over to the poor man. She had no clue who he was, but the least she could do was save him from that piranha. He certainly looked like he needed the help.

"Sweetheart, how could I have forgotten?"

Good. He was playing along. She met him in an embrace. She must have clung onto him for a moment longer than she should have because he raised an eyebrow in her direction. Who was this man and why did he have to smell so intoxicating? She knew coming over and helping him out was a bad idea. Think Dan Humphrey, Blair. Dan Humphrey.

"Claire, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend..."

He paused and blushed slightly. Remembering that they didn't actually know each other, she finished off his sentence for him.

"Blair. Blair Waldorf. So nice to meet you," she said confidently, secretly hoping that Claire wouldn't see through their facade.

Blair reached out her hand, but she didn't take it. Claire gave one warning glance in her direction and with that, she walked away. Blair continued to stand there. She could still feel his warm hand on the small of her back. He cleared his throat clearly uncomfortable with the situation himself and stepped away from her. She decided to speak up first.

"I have to go actually, but I'm glad I could help," she said awkwardly.

She could feel a mysterious vibe between them. She wondered if he could too. Her entire body was still radiating from his touch. And to think his hand had only been on the small of her back! Blair shook her head in hopes of expelling all inappropriate thoughts from her mind. No! Think Dan Humphrey, Blair. Dan Humphrey.

"Thanks, but I could have totally handled it myself," he said, preparing to climb back into his car.

Blair blinked at his response. What? That arrogant son of a bitch! Suddenly, Blair found him to be disgustingly irritating. She found everything about him irritating. His soulful brown eyes. The sexy way his hair was piled on top of his head. His damn annoying perfect smug smile.

"The thanks part of that sentence would have been just fine," she snapped.

Without giving him a chance to retort, she walked away with her head held high. How dare he! She had men lined up around the block who would have loved to have been in his shoes only a few moments ago! Even so, she couldn't stop thinking about him on her way back to Yale. She knew she shouldn't have wandered off campus during her free period. She just knew it.


Blair Waldorf. The Blair Waldorf. He knew who she was. She had only acknowledged his existence once back in high school!

Chuck watched Blair walk away as he continued to sit in his car unmoved. He had definitely pissed the woman off. And what a woman at that. It wasn't as if he hadn't been grateful for her help, but he just didn't trust women - let alone Blair Waldorf. They were far too complicated. It was far better to piss them off than to lead them on.

He knew she had felt something in their embrace. He could see it in her eyes. He had to admit that he had felt something too, but who knew what ulterior motives she had had in mind? Personally, he preferred one-night stands with no strings attached. Now that was a way to live, but there was something intriguing about this woman and apparently his body thought so too. He needed a shower. A cold shower.


"Are we having lunch anytime soon?" Vanessa asked, her stomach growling to accompany her question.

Dan turned towards her and laughed.

"Sorry, I said I would have lunch with Blair. I'd invite you, but..."

"You never know. She might warm up to me. She warmed up to you, Lonely Boy," she said, splattering some paint on his face in the process.

Dan jumped at the feel of the paint dripping down his face. He laughed and proceeded to splatter paint all over her overalls, causing Vanessa to let out a squeal.

"You look good in green, Fairmont, but seriously, let's try to keep the paint on the walls."

Vanessa smiled and turned back towards the wall, moving her paintbrush in repetitive circles.

"Speaking of which, why are we painting the walls?"

Dan shrugged off her question.

"The director wanted to feature a new artist. Aaron is a photographer. I showed his work to the director and he approved, so we're redecorating the gallery to compliment his work."

Vanessa nodded, wanting to change the topic. For some reason, their conversations would always make their way back to Blair Waldorf. She could understand why he and Serena had to end their relationship in their senior year, but she never truly understood why Dan had started to date Blair after that. She was Blair Waldorf, after all. What did Blair have to offer that she didn't? She was the one who had been with him through thick and thin.

She put on a fake smile and said quite bitterly, "Well, Blair must be thrilled to have a perfect boyfriend such as yourself. You're even looking out for her step-brother."

Dan caught the bitterness in her voice, but laughed it off. He knew Vanessa had feelings for him. She had made that clear while he was dating Serena, but he saw her as a sister. Nothing more and nothing less.

"This is all for Jenny. She did apply for that internship at Eleanor Waldorf designs. Maybe doing this will help secure the position."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow in his direction. He knew she didn't believe him. Of course, that hadn't been the real reason why he had introduced Aaron to the director, but he knew better than to factor Blair into the equation.

"Wow. All this to secure that position for Jenny? That doesn't sound like the Dan Humphrey I know," she spat.

He didn't know why, but for some reason what Vanessa had said completely ticked him off.

"Maybe you don't know me, Vanessa," he blurted out.

She dropped her paintbrush on the floor in response to his statement.

"What?" she asked, an incredulous look on her face.

He stepped towards her.

"I'm sorry, Vanessa. I had no idea where that came from! Please forgive me."

She shook her head as tears started to brim in her eyes. She knew Dan would never fall for her, but this was too much.

Dan touched her arm lightly and resisted the urge to hold her in his arms and dry her tears. Great! He had really done it now. He felt horrible. They were best friends after all. Vanessa stepped away from his touch, brushing his hand off of her arm immediately. Reaching down for the bucket of paint near her feet, she poured it without hesitation over his head.

"One thing I do know, Humphrey? You look much better in green than I do."

With that, she left him standing there drenched in paint.


Blair made her way over to the courtyard and seated herself on the nearest bench. She pulled out her personal copy of Pride and Prejudice and began to read, allowing all thoughts of that ungrateful man escape her mind. She hadn't gotten too far into the novel yet, but Mr. Darcy already reminded her of a certain someone. There she was thinking of him again. What was it about him that was so intriguing and why did he seem so familiar? He hadn't even introduced himself for crying out loud!

Before she could answer her own question, her cell phone began to ring. Several neighboring students turned around to look at her. One even rudely pointed to a no-cell-phones-allowed sign. Blair fumbled around her purse for a while, but managed to answer the call in the nick of time.

She whispered into her cell phone. "Hello?"

Dan was on the other end of the line. Without thinking, he whispered back.

"Hey. Why are we whispering? Are you in class?"

"No, I'm in the courtyard," she said, glancing around at the other students.

"Oh."

Realizing his stupidity, Dan returned to speaking in his normal voice.

"Wait. Why am I whispering?"

Blair bit down on her lower lip to suppress a laugh, but to no avail. By now, the other students in the courtyard were getting quite irritated. She thought it was best to leave. She grabbed her purse and left, careful not to make a sound on the way out.

"Where are you supposed to be, Blair?"

Blair was drawing a blank to Dan's question. After a few moments of pondering, she realized that she was supposed to meet Dan for lunch.

"I am so sorry! It completely slipped my mind!" she cried out apologetically.

Dan remained silent causing Blair to catch her breath.

"Oh, come on! I said I was sorry! I got caught up analyzing Mr. Darcy! I'm on my way now."

Blair quickly started to head for the parking lot.

"Mr. Darcy? Isn't that your history professor?" Dan asked, forgiving Blair in the process.

He had no right to be mad at her for forgetting lunch when truthfully, the events of that morning had caused their lunch date to slip his mind as well. He hoped Vanessa would have at least answered his calls or replied to one of his numerous apologetic text messages.

"What? Absolutely not!" she squealed, disgusted by his assumption.

"I was talking about Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. I'm reading that novel for your dad's class? Dan, I'll be there in..."

Dan cut her off. "No need. I have to head back to the gallery anyway. I'll see you tonight?"

Blair felt extremely guilty about missing lunch and offered an alternative that Dan just couldn't resist.

"How about I make us lunch and bring it over to the gallery?"

There was a brief pause.

"Dan?"

"I'm sorry, Blair. I think there might be something wrong with the connection. Did you say you were going make lunch and bring it over here?"

Blair giggled. She could imagine the look on Dan's face. Horror and shock all mixed into one emotion.

"By how about I make us lunch, I mean how about Dorota make us lunch that I will conveniently take credit for."

Dan smiled into his cell phone.

"Deal. That takes care of any chances of food poisoning. See you in...?"

"I heard that and ten minutes," she said, climbing into the awaiting limo.

Closing his cell phone, he couldn't help but let out a tiny chuckle.

"Which is code for an hour if you're lucky..." he murmured to himself.