Hey dear readers!! Here's the next installment. This chapter is an extended scene from after the end of THE SERENA ALSO RISES episode. This takes place after the fashion show has finished and Blair is miserable, and after Chuck is already home at The Palace after having been bailed out of jail. Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews guys! I know sometimes I mess up with these Hidden Moments, but I've been trying my best to re watch all the episodes in their entirety before I start writing. But sometimes I find it impossible to watch 40 minutes worth of GG and then write a chapter right afterwards, so sorry if there are some inconsistencies with my hidden moments and the episode. OK well as always REVIEWS=LOVE. Happy Readings!!! xoxo


The Serena Also Rises

Chuck stared at the pages he held in his hand and fought hard to suppress the shudder that threatened to cause goosebumps to spread across his skin. He was Chuck Bass. Nothing and nobody could get the best of him.

The message had gotten across to Humphrey. He was sure of it. The guy wouldn't dare write about him ever again.

Staring out into the Manhattan night he let a out a shaky breath and raked his fingers through his hair. He needed a drink. Badly.

The sounds of Bart and Lily chatting away in the living room had him rolling his eyes in contempt. He needed a drink, but not here.

Sliding out of his velvet robe, he hurried into his closet and found a soft yellow shirt and cerulean blue bow tie, and paired them with a black Armani suit. Not caring about his hair, he slid out of his room quietly and exited through the back stairs, not wanting to draw the attention of his father and Lily.

He didn't know how the night had progressed from bad to worse. He started out drinking and wallowing in his own self misery at a bar. Enter Dan Humphrey and his shady inside scoop techniques. Then there was being hauled off to jail, something he was sure to hear about from Bart as soon as their lawyer informed Bart of his lockup. And out of all the miserable things that had happened to him that night, he had confessed a truth to Brooklyn that he had no business in confessing. He could count on one hand, and have fingers to spare, how many people he had confessed that closely guarded secret to.

Shaking his head clear of the anger and self hate, Chuck made his way out of The Palace Hotel and sucked in a breath of the warm New York City air. This is where he belonged. In the darkness, stalking the streets of New York after hours. Here he felt at peace, shrouded away from the spotlight of the Upper East Side, invisible to the gossip, the rumors, the lies. Here he found it easy to escape. To forget. To breathe. To live.

Walking down the streets he halted when he spotted the one person he wasn't expecting to see walking down the streets alone at night. Blair Waldorf, in a dainty, feminine dress that matched his tie and shirt to the tee, and a sad, dark expression that he was sure was readable on his own face. They were one and the same. He had never doubted that.

She seemed to have sensed him suddenly, her eyes shooting up from the ground she had been staring at and landed straight on his own eyes. She was unguarded and fragile, and she lacked the energy to put up a fight. He could see it.

He continued walking until he stood before her, feeling just as unguarded as she was. "Waldorf," he said softly as he stared her up and down and couldn't stop the small smile that covered his face. "Ravishing as always..."

Blair rolled her eyes, but a smile curled her lips just the same. "Do you have your spies stalking my closet, Bass? It's quite disturbing how you always find a way to match my outfits."

Chuck laughed softly, surprised that Blair had noticed as well. "You always outdo me so no worries," he offered gallantly, looking over her shoulder and spotting a crowd of rowdy college guys coming their way. "I think I'm here to save the day, Waldorf. You shouldn't be walking around here alone at night," Chuck reprimanded her with a stern look on his face as he took her hand in his and laced her arm through his own.

Blair stared down at the joining of their arms and felt a warmth bloom somewhere inside of her. "I needed to clear my head."

"Likewise. Want to do it together?" he grinned, unable to stop the wicked word play no matter how emotionally exhausting his night had been.

"While your offer intrigues me, I'm sure alcohol would offer a better remedy for how I'm feeling," Blair said honestly as she let out a deep breath and squeezed her fingers into his arms as the men began to brush past them.

"Lucky bastard..."

"She's gorgeous..."

Chuck smiled as he heard the comments of the guys and pulled her closer to his side. "Yes I am a lucky bastard, aren't I?" he shouted back, earning himself an "Amen" and "That's for sure" from the group.

Blair looked at him angrily and pulled him around to walk in the opposite direction. "Don't provoke them, Bass. I doubt you'd be much of a savior if push comes to shove."

Chuck pouted as he stared down at her. "How about that drink?" he asked as he spotted a bar he often frequented and began to guide her in the direction.

She stared at him and quirked her brow.

"OK... drinks," he corrected himself as he smiled and dragged her along with him.

--xoxo--xoxo--

"So, bad night?" Chuck asked as he took a drink of his scotch and inwardly sighed as the burning heat crashed into his stomach. He could already feel his blood starting to warm.

"Is there any other kind?" Blair bit out bitterly as she took a drink from her martini. She stared off into the distance, to no one in particular, but Chuck was sure she was lost in thought of the events of that night.

He allowed her to remain silent for a while, nursing his scotch as she drank from her glass, watching her every movement, every flutter of her eyelashes, every movement her throat made as it worked to swallow the alcohol, every flex of her jaw. He enjoyed these quiet moments with her. There was a time, long before he'd went and fucked everything up, when they would lay awake in bed and he'd stare at her as the light of the moon bathed her body. He missed those intimate moments with her, mostly because he had never found them with anyone else, anyone before or after her. He missed holding her and kissing her and touching her and making love to her. It was all different with her. It held more meaning, it was more powerful. And he'd been stupid enough to allow it to slip away. Now they were stuck in this game of Catch 22 from which there seemed to be no escape. There were no winners. There only seemed to be losers.

"She took it all away from me again..." she whispered silently, breaking into his thoughts, forcing him to focus on what she had just said. It took him a second to analyze what she had said, but only a second. He instantly knew who the "she" in question was. His beloved sister. The best friend Blair loved to hate. He often wondered if Blair had applied the same theory of keep your friends close but your enemies closer, when it came to Serena Van der Woodsen. It would be the only logical reason Chuck could deduce from that situation.

"The fashion show...?" Chuck supplied, remembering the conversation he had had earlier with Blair regarding her minions and their restored loyalty to her once she allowed them in to Eleanor's fashion show. Obviously things hadn't worked the way Blair had intended. He cringed as he remembered the words he had told her that morning...

Watching you fail spectacularly gives me so much joy.

"Everything... she's taken everything from me. Nate. My mother. My friends. She can never have enough," Blair struggled to get out, her breathing heavy, the knot in her throat making it difficult for her to get the words out. She felt like screaming, crying, running away. But there was no where to go, no escape from the ironic, bitterly morose life she led.

"Waldorf..." Chuck began to speak, but she cut into his conversation.

"Do you know what it feels like to have nothing left?" Blair turned to look at him for the first time since they'd arrived at the bar. He could see the tears on the brim of her eyes and the quiver of her bottom lip as she relived and replayed the night over and over in her head.

Chuck swallowed hard and had to clear his throat before speaking. If she only knew just how much they had in common... "I do," he whispered out as he held on to her gaze and reached his hand out to grab hers. It surprised him that she allowed him. "But she hasn't taken it all away from you, Blair. You're still you. And what makes you you is that you're a fighter. Just like me. While those closest to us seem to have it all handed to them, we have to fight for it. Earn it. And that's what makes our victories all the more sweeter. Because we've earned everything that we've ever had. Don't let her break you. Don't let her break that spirit that I-... that we all know and love."

Blair laughed bitterly at his last words. "Love... like we know anything about that," she scoffed as she pulled away from his touch and raised her martini glass back to her lips.

Chuck pulled away from her and downed the rest of his scotch in one sip. He surprised himself by how close he had come to saying those words, how he'd had to correct himself before he let it slip. Not here and not like this. "I think we do," he said softly as he placed his glass down and stared down at the bar table.

Blair cast a glance in his direction and felt a nervous flutter start in the pit of her stomach. "I should be going."

He let out a deep breath and then he nodded as he set his jaw and stared up at her. "Right. I'll walk you."

"No, no. That's OK. I'll hail a cab," Blair rushed out quickly as she grabbed her bag and hopped off the stool.

"I'll walk you out then," Chuck insisted as he put down a few bills on the bar and followed her out the door.

As if by design, a cab pulled up as soon as he'd caught up with her outside and he held the door open for her to hop in. "You don't have nothing left," he said softly as she adjusted herself in her seat and stared up at him as he spoke. "You have me."

She nodded softly, a silent tear slipping down her cheek as he shut the door for her. "Goodnight, Chuck."

And he nodded softly, tapping the roof of the cab and watching as it drove away.

A/N: Hey all! So I don't know what really possessed me to write this, seeing as this was not my idea whatsoever when I started writing this chapter. But I think it's kind of nice to bring Chuck and Blair together when they're both so beautifully broken as they were after this episode. And from my Hidden Moments of Season 1, they always seemed to find a way to each other every time their lives were turned upside down. So here it was. Besides, there's not much bitterness to be seen between Chuck and Blair for much longer, seeing as the next episode they're at Yale (with zero interaction) and then is the fun episode where they bet on Vanessa! (Which I can't wait to write on...) OK well I hope you guys liked what I did with this episode.