AN: I just wanted to say that I am so so so so so so so sorry for any of you that thought that I was complaining about not getting reviews on my story. My lack of inspiration is because I am having boy problems with a guy that has definitely been my inspiration for the CB stuff and I was really upset about it yesterday but don't worry I am going to continue just a little sporadically because of exams.

One warning though, I have seen a lot of spoilers and while I'm not working off of those some of them may appear in my story because they fit too perfectly not to. But from here on out I am pretty sure my story differs enough that I am on my own.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl or its characters

Rated: T mostly for language. This one isn't really M but it is a pretty high T lol.

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Blair jumped out of the shower and hurriedly dressed for school. Thank goodness she had already decided in the limo what she was going to wear today. She hadn't slept a wink the entire night. She had started in Chuck's bed room, then the big intervention at Nate's, then she and Chuck had spent the rest of the night in his limo, finishing what they had started in Nate's sitting room. However, even though she hadn't slept at all, somehow she wasn't even the least bit tired. Sex had somehow managed to completely replace sleep and Blair couldn't help but think that that was convenient. Unfortunately though, she knew that the sex high would only last for another couple of hours, that's why she had called Dorota and had her prepare six to-go cups of coffee, she figured that after the night that they had had last night, and what they were sure to face at school today with the Nate scandal exploding, the group was going to need all of the energy that they could get. As she looked in the mirror to fix her hair and apply her make up Chuck appeared beside her reflection.

"Damn it Chuck, I told you to stay in the limo." Blair said loudly over the blow drier. Leave it to Chuck Bass to have had a change of clothes for himself in the limo, but besides that, she knew that Chuck would just distract her from getting ready.

Chuck shrugged. "I was bored." He moved to sit on her bed. "I promise I'll stay out of your way." Chuck added.

"Fine." Blair replied as she finished blow drying and started opening her make up bag. She didn't have time to get ready and argue with Chuck about whether or not he should have stayed in the limo.

"You know, you don't need that powdery stuff that you are about to put on right?" Chuck stated, interrupting her own thought process, while gesturing at the brush in her hand.

Blair talked to him through their reflections in the mirror. "Yes, I do Chuck, you don't know anything about make up. Now shush, you're distracting me."

"Blair, really you don't need it, you're already beautiful and that stuff would only mute you're natural glow." Blair was about to disagree when she took another look at her reflection. Sure enough she was kind of glowing. Her cheeks were already a light pink and her eyes looked bright. So instead of applying the powder she picked up her mascara put on two quick swipes before adding a coat of Chuck's favorite red lipstick and turning around. "Well I guess, that's what being in love does to you."

Chuck smiled one of the large bright smiles that he reserved for Blair alone before getting up and reaching for her hand. "Lets go Waldorf."

Blair looked at his hand for only a moment before taking it, lacing her fingers through his and following him out the door of her bed room and down the stairs. In the foyer, Dorota handed Blair a tray with the to-go coffee and they went on to the limo.

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Serena groaned as Dan walked up behind her and grabbed her around the waist. She knew he was just trying to be playful but she was really not in the mood. She hadn't gotten any sleep after she had left Nate's house and she could barely hold her eyes open.

Dan walked around until he stood in front of Serena, "Serena, what's wrong?" Dan asked sincerely. He was a little worried. The last time that he had seen her look this awful was back when she thought that she had killed someone.

The worry in Dan's voice got to her a little and his eyes were so concerned that she felt her mood soften a little. He was one of the few people that ever had that effect on her. "I didn't get any sleep last night, but don't worry about it, I'll be okay." She didn't mention that she was also still a little miffed that Nate had wanted to confide in Blair but not her. That he found her incapable of helping other people with their problems. Okay so she was more than miffed, she was pissed off. It was ridiculous, trusting Blair over her.

"Okay." Dan said, his concern not totally erased. "Well, why didn't you sleep?" He could tell it wasn't just the sleep thing so he figured maybe he could talk it out of her.

"I just had to deal with some family stuff." Serena said in an attempt to evade his question, her friends were family to her anyway. She didn't really want to tell him that she had been at Nate's last night.

Dan knew that he was starting to push Serena a little, he could see her getting cranky again but he thought maybe a little more wouldn't hurt. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Why couldn't Dan just get the picture and leave her alone this morning thought Serena. "No Dan, not really." Serena said, snapping just a little.

Dan raised his hands up as if in surrender. "Okay, okay, we don't need to talk about it. Just if you want to some time, we could, I just wanted you to know that." He definitely didn't want Serena pissed at him, things between them had just gotten better again.

Serena had opened her mouth to say something when Jenny appeared before her, looking fairly cheery. "Hey guys, umm Blair just sent me a text to come find you guys, she's almost here and she wants to talk to you."

Serena groaned once more. What on earth did Blair want this morning? Serena turned back to face Dan.

Dan, who was picking up his bag, sensed that Serena was waiting on him to say something. So he pretended as though their earlier argument hadn't happened and said. "So I guess I'll see you at lunch?"

Serena noticed that Dan had dropped their earlier topic. "Yeah." Then she leaned in and kissed him, until Jenny coughed.

"Um, guys, you don't have to say good bye, Blair wants to see both of you." Jenny said once she had their intention.

Dan was caught of guard. "No Jenny, you must have misread her text, Blair Waldorf hates me."

Even Serena was a little surprised. "Yeah, Jenny, I mean Dan is definitely not Blair's favorite person."

Jenny just rolled her eyes and opened her phone. When she found the text she read it aloud. "J, I'm about 10 from school. Could you do me a huge favor and find D and S and bring them to the steps. Thanks girl. B." Then she looked at her brother and Serena in a told you so kind of way. "See, she wants to talk to both of you."

Serena didn't know what to say, she was tired and now really confused, so she didn't say anything, she just started walking towards the steps.

Jenny followed Serena until she noticed Dan wasn't behind her. She turned around to face Dan standing exactly where he had been like someone had stupefied him. "Dan, come on, whatever this is, you know if Blair wants to talk to you then it is probably pretty important, plus it's not like you have anything better to do."

Dan simply shook his head, "Thanks Jenny, great to know what you think of my life." Jenny raised her eyebrows. "But unfortunately you have a point."

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Nate was simply walking aimlessly in the direction of St. Judes. He had yet to decide whether or not he was even going to go to school today. Maybe it would be better if he just went to the park and smoked a joint. At very least it would chill him out a little. It was fairly nice out today, but he could already feel fall on its way. Yeah a joint was the way to go today.

He had just turned around to head to Central Park which was in the opposite direction, when a limo pulled up beside him. He didn't stop walking, he knew it was Chuck. The window rolled down and he was waiting on Chuck to give him some kind of man-to-man talk; however, the voice he heard surprised him.

"Get in the limo Nate." Called Blair.

Even though that hadn't been the voice he was expecting it didn't stop him. But it did cause him to give a response. "No thanks Blair, I think I'm good."

Blair wasn't going to take any of Nate's indecisive crap this morning, she had people waiting on them at school and she didn't really have time to mess with it. "Archibald I said get in the car right now."

The tone in Blair's voice stopped him in his tracks. He knew that tone all to well and with that he knew that she wasn't caving on this one. So when the door popped open he slid in, moving to one of the side benches. Once Nate's eyes had adjusted to the light, he noticed the way Blair was leaning against Chuck, his arm draped around her. It was almost as though they were one fluid person, automatically adjusting to even the slightest movement on the part of the other. Nate watched as Blair fixed Chuck's ascot and gave him a quick kiss and he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of jealousy. He had been so stupid when things came to Blair. He didn't know if they were right for each other, and obviously she was in love with Chuck, but Nate couldn't help but think that it could be him that she was leaned up against, him that she was kissing, his knee that her small delicate hand was placed on. He always seemed to want what he couldn't have, the only time that he hadn't was the short time that he and Blair had been together after Christmas of the past year. Yet again it seemed that everything always came back to Blair. He was such an idiot for letting her go, but now, now he had to let her be happy. Nate had to snap himself out of his moody reverie. Yeah it was obvious that he still had feelings for Blair but in all actuality now was not their time, she was Chuck's girlfriend, the only girl that he had ever loved, and Blair loved him back. So, Nate was going to move past it, productively this time. He was going to stay away from girls like Serena for a while because they were nothing but trouble when it came to this kind of stuff. The only bad thing was, he knew that even though he was apparently still hung up on Blair, he had a serious draw to Jenny Humphrey. He didn't know what it was about her but if he and Blair weren't a possibility then that is the only girl he would really want to be with.

While Nate was thinking, Chuck whispered in Blair's ear. "I think there's something wrong with Nate babe. I mean he looks even hazier than usual. Are you sure you want to make him go to school in this condition?"

Blair reached up and fixed Chuck's ascot. Through her teeth she responded, "Chuck, I know what I'm doing." She wasn't someone who liked her judgment being called into question and he knew that.

Chuck reached out a hand stroked her jaw line. "I know Waldorf, I'm just worried about him."

Blair had been instantly subdued by the feel of Chuck's hand. "Me too" she whispered.

As Blair turned back around Nate finally spoke. " So why is it so important that I go to school today?" It had taken him a long time to shake himself out of his little daydream about how stupid he had been and how stupid he wasn't going to be anymore.

"It's simple Nate," Blair had readjusted to where she was sitting forward in her seat and Chuck had followed, never letting their bodies separate; all of this was not lost on Nate. "The only way to make a scandal go away is to let everyone get it out of their system. If you fight it, or hide from it, then they are like sharks they tear you to bits. BUT if you go to school today like absolutely nothing happened, let them say what they want to say, and act like it doesn't affect you, then it'll all be over by the end of the week and they will have moved on to some other scandal. Plus, it's not like it's that big of a deal. You are only going to get crap from the girls, the guys are going to worship you for it."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Blair. Normally guys think of it as a good thing when you sleep around or do it all over the school but not with girls like Penelope. All of the guys think she nasty and now everyone knows I slept with her, everyone thinks I slept with EVERYONE." Nate was getting a little heated. He had never liked other people knowing his business and he knew that he wasn't going to enjoy all the rumors that were sure to spread about him having diseases or him being a manwhore. The worst part was that every girl he had turned down was going to stick it to him hard. That was when the next post from Gossip Girl hit.

(Hi B, since you seem to have indirectly won my little prize, I thought I would give you an advance warning on this one, better mobilize the forces this is going to be a bumpy ride)

Ladies and Gentlemen look what I have here. After some digging around into our newest scandal with N. It seems I have uncovered an even bigger one. It seems as though after N's father ran off sometime last year he left the family in a whole lot of debt. The Vanderbilt's have been taking care of things for months. So it looks like N is . . . Poor, maybe he was screwing around for money, who knows, but the word on the street is that P gave him a nasty little disease you know where. So if I were you girls, I'd keep my distance.

you know you love me

(well maybe not you N)

xoxo

gossip girl

"Oh My Fucking God" said Blair. "Gossip girl just sent me a personal message, warning me about something that she is going to send later and I seriously can't believe she went there, it's not like any of it's true in the first place."

Chuck and Nate were both alarmed and confused. It was obviously something Gossip Girl had sent but what? Nate was the first to try and ask. "Blair what does it say?"

"I just don't get it, why is that bitch making up lies?" Blair wasn't even paying attention to the guys.

Chuck reached over her shoulder and grabbed her phone. He read the text and didn't say anything, but Blair turned and examined his expression. His eyes were flaming, she could see the anger. "See," Blair said. "None of that is true." But Chuck's continued silence scared her.

"Guys," Nate yelled. "What's in the text?"

Blair jumped, before biting her lip. "Nate, I know it isn't true, so it doesn't really matter." Then she turned to Chuck "Right?"

Chuck passed the phone to Nate. "Nathaniel, I'm sorry." The look on Chuck's face told Blair everything. The text was true, the important part at least. Nate's family was broke and in their world, there was no coming back from that.

Nate read the text and as he did, Blair could see everything in him crashing down. His voice was emotionless as he asked Chuck, "How long?"

Blair just sat there looking between the two most important guys in her life, as Chuck tried to answer Nate. "How long what Nathaniel?"

"HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN?" Nate snapped. "AND DON'T FUCKING PRETEND YOU DON'T KNOW, I CAN SEE IT IN YOUR EYES!"

Chuck kept his cool. "Since this summer." Nate started to interrupt but Chuck held up a hand. "I found your mom crying one day in the house when I was living there. She told me everything and I helped her convince your grandparents to take care of you guys. I didn't tell you because I wanted you to tell me when you wanted to tell me."

Nate closed his eyes and inhaled. His breathing was ragged and he knew it. But when he looked back up he stared Chuck straight in the eye. "Thanks." Then Nate turned to Blair. "So, are you still sure that we can handle this."

Blair didn't ask questions because she had already put all the pieces together in her head. "Well, I don't know how long we have until the masses get the message but I already have some people waiting for us at the steps. I'm going to forward this one on to Jenny so that she is prepared just in case." Which she did promptly.

Nate was following Blair until he heard Jenny's name. "Jenny? What does Jenny have to do with this Blair?" The look in Nate's eyes was almost anxious, he was flipping out enough about everything, the last thing he need were more complications. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

It was Blair's turn to get a little frustrated. Why on earth was everyone doubting her this morning. "Damn it guys, quit questioning me this morning, I mean really, I wouldn't have asked Jenny to help out if I didn't think that you guys could handle it. I already warned you Nate, I'm not going to let her get hurt."

Nate was resigned. Blair was right, he had to do this, he had to just bite the bullet, even if it was going to be more difficult than they were originally, it was still what was necessary.

Are you ready for this B? Cause here goes nothing

Blair got a text from Gossip Girl first before it happened but the limo pulled up to the steps less than a minute later.

"Okay guys," Nate said sounding semi -confident. "Let's get this over with."

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AN: Sorry I'm in the middle of finals guys so the writing is really touch and go but I hope you all like this chapter. I love hearing your feedback so please review.