Hey guys. I've apparently been lying, I have three more chapters planned after this one (they keep being too long and then I have to split them). Another note, my friend Katie does actually work at the Carolina Coffee Shop and is quite obsessed with the British royal family which worked out well for this story. So shout out to Katie who's kind of psyched about her cameo. Also, I totally made up the address for Bass Industries that I use; if someone knows an actual address for it I'll be glad to change it. One other thing, since I started writing this before we ever actually met Lord Marcus I just wanted to remind everyone that I've been using Marcus's name from the books. Lastly to any of you who read my other stories particular What We Don't Remember, I will be returning to those I swear I just need to be in one place for more than a week so that I can sit down and devote some time to my fanfics.

To my reviewers: smartin555, Krazy4Spike, tvrox12, CarolinaGirl21, ggff-fan, kitkat0425, LitPrincess2787, LayRay, and annablake. You guys have been with me through FIFTY SIX chapters. That's totally major and yet you continue to inspire me with each and every review. I love you guys! Also to those who recently favorite'd this story and put it on story alert it is wonderful to still be getting new readers this late in the story but I'm so glad you all tuned in. Enjoy. And to miragrace93 for all of the offers of support and help, I truly do appreciate it .

Last but not least, thanks so much to my wonderful betas for this chapter EmilyEcstatic and ggff-fan. You guys save my tail and keep me from looking like an idiot on a regular basis and I love you for it!

Disclaimer: I own more SillyBandz than a girl my age should but I do not own Gossip Girl.

Rated: T because I let things get smexy from time to time.

May 8, 2009 - The Palace Hotel, NYC

Blair sighed from where she was seated on Chuck's bed as she looked down at her phone.

Gossip Girl here, but someone isn't, or perhaps we should make that two someones. First C went missing, now B; where are all of my lovely UES's running off to? There's been no sign of B in almost two weeks, and C's been gone for two months. My guess says Queen B is searching for her rightful King. In other news, J and N are still on the outs and we hear it might have something to do with little J spreading her legs for someone other than N, gasp! Gossip abounds on the UES and you know I'll be here to spill it all.

xoxo
gossip girl

Gossip girl was making her life more difficult by the day as it seemed that she and Jenny were the only two people doing anything interesting lately, or in her case doing nothing, which had somehow become interesting. All she had wanted to do was keep a low profile for a few days while she recovered from seeing Chuck but gossip girl was making it difficult for her to even leave the Palace without alerting her friends of where she was staying and that she was in New York at all. She was lucky that seniors were expected to skip class otherwise she would have had to deal with crap from Constance too, if they even knew where to reach her anymore.

When she had left Chuck's hospital room she had been devastated. She had stayed in the waiting room the rest of the day, unable to bring herself to actually leave, or even simply move from her position in the uncomfortable plastic chair. When she finally managed to call Harrison and return to her hotel room she certainly couldn't bring herself to go back to New York. At the same time she wouldn't degrade herself by going back to the hospital. Instead she had wandered around in Chapel Hill, surprised to find that as small as it was she enjoyed it. It provided her with a certain amount of solace, she was able to relax and just think without having to worry about gossip girl or anyone else for that matter. She'd also never been to a city that seemed to be solely populated by college students and it was different and she found herself truly enjoying it. But from the beginning she had known that she couldn't stay there forever; if she wasn't going to go see Chuck again, there was no reason for her to remain in North Carolina at all. There was simply a very large part of her that didn't want to be away from him again even if he didn't want to see her and New York felt like too far too soon.

She had a favorite cafe on the main street of Chapel Hill that she had begun to frequent, the Carolina Coffee Shop. The servers knew her by name and knew to expect her every morning at nine, at the table by the window. Sitting at her table she looked out on Franklin Street at the college students passing by, some of them holding hands and felt a pang of sadness in her heart.

"So who's the guy?" The waitress asked as she filled up Blair's cup of coffee.

Blair looked up at the waitress, noting that her name tag read Katie. "No guy." She said with a shrug. She wasn't quite ready to start talking to strangers about her relationship with Chuck. Blair was a private person even with her closest friends and this was a subject she was nowhere near ready to share with them, much less someone she barely knew.

Katie shook her head knowingly. She was young too and she knew the signs of heartbreak, all of which were written plainly on the brunette's face. "Whoever he is, he isn't worth it." However, as she said the words she noticed the girl's reaction and became uncertain. "Or is he?" She asked setting down the coffee pot.

This time Blair smiled. The girl was friendly enough and seemed willing to listen, plus after she left Chapel Hill she would never see her again so why not just talk to her? After all, it might help her sort some things out. "I think he is. Or maybe I should say I know he used to be."

Katie raised an eyebrow intrigued. "I have a break in five minutes, I'll be right back." Precisely five minutes later, Katie was taking the seat across from Blair. "Okay so he used to be worth it, what changed?"

"He did." Blair said her voice strangely strong. "My name's Blair by the way."

"Katie." The waitress replied with an encouraging smile.

Blair nodded and continued. "Our relationship has been complicated. When we started seeing each other he wasn't a good guy, except to me. Things went sour and I tried to use a guy to get back at him but from there things got worse." She bit her lip slightly, knowing just how crazy the next part of her story got. "The guy, Chuck, told me he loved me but the guy I'd brought home to make him jealous, Marcus, turned out to be a bad person to use. He's kind of powerful; a British lord at the time. He blackmailed me into marrying him."

Katie's eyes shot open as she spoke abruptly. "Are you Blair Waldorf? I knew you looked familiar." As Blair nodded her head a little shocked at being recognized in North Carolina of all places; she had been of the opinion that she was completely anonymous down here. How was it possible that a simple peon from the south knew who she was simply by hearing a smile portion of her life story? But then again everything about North Carolina had been surprising her. She was about to say something else but Katie kept talking. "Then you're talking about Marcus Beaton-Rhodes. I can't believe he forced you to marry him, I thought you guys were the perfect couple and oh my God I want your second wedding dress, the one you wore for the queen."

Now Blair was almost weirded out, or maybe the right word wasn't almost but definitely. "How did you know any of that?" She asked skeptically.

"I follow British tabloids." Katie said with a shrug. "I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that he had blackmailed you into marriage. Now continue, please."

Blair tried to shake her surprise as she continued. "Chuck and I tried to be together anyway; we tried to find a way out of the engagement to but as you know we didn't. We wrote each other the entire time I was in London and over Christmas he surprised me while I was visiting my father in France, he proposed and we were going to run away together but Marcus showed up. We went back to London but Marcus found the letters and forced me to end things with Chuck for good. Then after our wedding in London, Marcus realized what he'd done to me and let me go; but it was too late. Chuck had disappeared, presenting an elaborate scheme that had us all thinking he had just left town; but I knew differently. It turns out he bought a car and drove far away, to North Carolina where he wrecked it on purpose." Katie gasped and Blair kept speaking. "He's okay physically, but he doesn't remember any of our relationship. He's back to being that guy that he was at the beginning and trust me, that Chuck Bass was not worth it." Blair finished, leaving out some of the finer points in their relationship turmoil, there were things that strangers simply didn't need to know.

Katie exhaled. "Well I'd definitely say there's a guy." She said referencing their first words to one another. "Is the baby his?" She asked, sparing a glance towards Blair's stomach.

Blair nodded. "Marcus and I never, so it only could be his."

"Did you tell Chuck all of this?" She asked sympathetically.

Again Blair nodded. "All of it and more. But he doesn't believe me. Like I said, this Chuck is a total Basshole." When Katie looked confused she realized her use of her old nickname for Chuck and filled in the blanks in what Katie must be missing. "He's Chuck Bass which leaves lots of delightful ways to twist his name. Basshole, Basshat, Chuck Basstard, and Mother Chucker, to name a few."

Katie nodded, stifling laughter. "So what was his response?"

"It was my worst nightmare." Blair began. "The things he said were horrible, even for him and he made it perfectly clear that he didn't want to be a part of mine or the baby's life; that he didn't care about us in the slightest."

Katie could see her boss looking agitated out of the corner of her eye; her break was almost up so she didn't have much time but after listening she thought she at least owed Blair some advice. "You have to remember that the real Chuck is worth it. After everything you've told me I can see that you love him and that you'd love him no matter what. You can't give up on that, no matter what. Even if he never remembers the things that he's forgotten, he's clearly cared about you from the start; you said he was different with you even then. Just do whatever it takes to help him realize that you're not going to give up on him." With that, Katie stood. "I've got to get back to work but I'll pray for you."

Blair smiled in return. Until she came to North Carolina she'd probably heard the phrase 'I'll pray for you' once; since being here it seemed to be what everyone said. Oh the joys of the Bible belt. She continued sitting there for a while, thinking over what Katie had said, as well as the things that Chuck had said to her and she realized something important, Katie was right, Chuck had always been worth it, she just hadn't realized it; no one had. Smiling, she realized that she had come to a decision; now she just needed to go back to New York and take care of some things. Most importantly there was a slight matter of the fact that the only place she had applied to college was Oxford. She most definitely had no intentions of returning to London, so something had to be done about that. And there were other things that she needed to arrange before she came back to prove to Chuck, that she wasn't going anywhere. When Blair left she placed a hundred on the table and used the back of her receipt to write the waitress a quick note.

Katie, thanks for listening. This is for your advice.

Now, as she sat on Chuck's bed two days after her conversation with Katie, she realized that there was more to take care of than she thought; she had someone that she needed to visit. Gathering what she needed, Blair exited the hotel and walked out to the curb where she quickly hailed a cab; Harrison was probably the part of North Carolina she missed the most, cabs were annoying when one was trying to keep a low profile. Climbing in she spoke "Bass Industries, it's 47th and 6th."

The cab ride was short as she was already only a couple blocks away. Normally Blair would have just walked but she thought a cab would be a slightly less conspicuous mode of transportation. Arriving at Bass Industries, she walked in with her head held high. She was glad that Bart had no prior knowledge that she was coming or he might have barred the door this time with what she had to say. Approaching Bart's personal secretary's desk she spoke very little. "Is he in there?" She asked gesturing towards the grand doors guarding Bart's office.

"Yes but . . ." The secretary began but Blair paid her no attention as she strode by her desk and opened the grandiose doors. Walking in she saw Bart look shocked for perhaps the first time in her life. He was on the phone and his eyes were wide with her unannounced intrusion.

"Bradley let me call you back, my . . . daughter in law has just walked in." Bart spoke, quickly finishing the conversation as best as he could.

Blair raised her eyebrows as she walked towards Bart's desk. "Daughter in law?"

Bart's face was back to its normal emotionless state as he spoke again. "I'm not sure 'mother of my son's child' is a politically correct term or one that would engender much respect from my current and Chuck's future business associates. I improvised." As Bart spoke he rearranged the papers on his desk before leaning back, fixing Blair with a hard glare. "Now that you've stormed into my office unannounced, is there something I can do for you Blair?"

Inhaling Blair continued to walk forward. "I found Chuck."

Bart's lips twisted into a slight smirk but none of the rest of his face moved. "Excellent. See what did I tell you, it was only a matter of time. Where was he this time? Thailand, Dubai, Barbados, or his old favorite Monaco?"

Blair was standing directly in front of Bart's desk when she finally answered his question. "Chuck's in North Carolina."

At Blair's words, Bart's eyebrows furrowed. He wasn't quite sure what the situation was at the moment and that wasn't something he liked. Bart Bass always had the upper hand and at the moment he was somewhat painfully aware that the young woman carrying his grandchild, the same young woman he had practically thrown out of his office and home, knew something that he did not. "That's . . . different. Why, pray tell, is my son in North Carolina?"

"He tried to kill himself." Blair spoke, staring down at Bart Bass in a way few others would dare to do; but if there was one thing Blair had learned in the past few weeks it was that she didn't fear a man like Bart Bass. Some might find him intimidating but she found him weak.

This time Bart looked down right affronted. "Bullshit. My son wouldn't have tried to kill himself and in North Carolina of all places."

Blair reached inside her large designer bag and pulled out the files that she had received from the doctor in North Carolina, placing them on the desk in front of Bart. "Don't believe me? Read these. As far as I can tell, Chuck bought a car with the money he withdrew from the bank the day he left before giving his cards to someone with instructions to spend his money. He proceeded to drive south for hours before driving his car into a tree. He didn't have any identification on him and he thought he was far enough away that no one would think to look; but he wasn't counting on me coming home or he would no doubt have gone further. Chuck would have known that I would have never stopped looking. Chuck was the love of my life and I was his; he didn't want to live without me."

Tentatively reaching for the files, Bart looked up at a still standing Blair. "You said he tried to kill himself, I take it that means he failed." Blair gave a single curt nod. "Then why do you refer to him in the past tense?"

"It's all in the file." Blair spoke with a slight eye roll before deciding to continue. "Chuck has amnesia. He doesn't remember the past two years. He's not the same Chuck we know, not that you would notice a difference."

Bart who had become engrossed in the files before him allowed his head to snap up. "Don't try my patience Blair."

Inhaling sharply Blair slammed a hand down on Bart's desk before she realized what she was doing. "Don't try your patience? Don't try YOUR patience? Do you realize that if I hadn't known something was wrong we would have lost Chuck for good? You were content to sit here and wait for a century if it meant that you didn't have to act like a concerned father."

Bart stood to meet Blair eye to eye, knowing that height gave you the illusion of power and for some reason when facing off with the young brunette he found he needed that illusion. "I'm a businessman, I use more than my heart and hormones to make my decisions. I use facts and data on past trends. Any facts or data concerning my son would insinuate that Chuck was off partying and would return within a few months. I don't blame myself, I blame Chuck's past actions."

Blair crossed her arms over her chest. "If you want to continue deluding yourself into thinking that you did nothing wrong, deluding yourself into thinking that as a father you didn't totally suck, then be my guest and go right ahead. I'm done trying to convince you otherwise. I just came by because I thought that as a father you might want to know where your son was and just what kind of trouble he was in. You don't know your son at all and you almost missed out on any chance you had to remedy that." Blair took a step back from the desk noting that while furious Bart appeared properly chastised. Whether it made a difference or not, Blair was filled with a rush of warmth simply knowing that she had tried to shove Bart in the right direction. Without even knowing what she was saying, Blair found her mouth opening again saying words she would have never in a million years thought she would say; especially not to the great Bart Bass. "And you know what? I'm going to pray for you." The words surprised her as she wasn't even religious though she found herself meaning them. She had turned and was walking from the room when she heard Bart's voice.

"Where are you going?" Bart asked, surprising even himself.

Blair turned and looked over her shoulder to answer. "I'm going to bring Chuck home."

May 10, 2009 - Duke Hospital, Durham NC

Emma wasn't paying much attention to what was going on in front of the nurses' station as she rearranged the charts currently in disarray on the counter. She likely wouldn't have looked up if the young woman in front of her hadn't spoken, but the second she heard the girl's words her head snapped to full attention.

"Is Chuck Bass still in room 418?" Blair asked keeping her voice calm. In truth she'd already been by room 418 and there was someone who was very much not Chuck Bass residing there.

Emma's eyes were wide, Chuck Bass had had exactly one visitor the entire time he had been here and this girl certainly fit the bill. "Are you Blair Waldorf?" She asked rather in awe of the beautiful young woman in front of her. Honestly, she felt like she knew her already from all of the stories she'd heard. When Blair nodded, Emma's eyes lit up. "I'm so glad you came back! Chuck's been moved to a better room just follow me." Emma spoke as she walked around to where Blair was standing.

Blair looked strangely at the enthusiastic young girl in front of her but she did as she was requested and began to follow her over to the elevators. "Why are you glad I came back?"

Stepping into the elevator, Emma smiled nervously, realizing that she was being a little overenthusiastic. "I'm sorry, you must think I'm some kind of nut job. It's just I think Chuck's making a terrible mistake by not being with you! It's like he has the perfect fairy tale at his feet but he's refusing to see it."

Blair smiled reassuringly at the young girl, finding that she liked her even with all of her bubbly excitement. "I don't know about it being a fairy tale but I suppose I'm happy that someone doesn't think I'm crazy."

Emma spoke again, eyes still wide as she led Blair down the tenth floor hallway. "No I don't think you're crazy at all, I just think Chuck is being a stupid boy. This is his room." she said as she came to a stop in front of room 1040.

"Thanks." Blair spoke with yet another smile before opening the door. As she walked into the room she saw surprise on Chuck's face and full blown shock on Holly's, who was in the room dropping off Chuck's food.

Holly's eyes immediately found Emma's and her look of shock turned to one of fury. "EMMA! You know that she's not supposed to be here. Chuck doesn't want to see her. What were you thinking? Are you trying to get me fired!" She lowered her voice near the end and Blair realized that she had missed something fairly major in the last three weeks.

Emma had started to speak when Blair interrupted, practically spitting fire at Chuck. "You had me barred from visiting you?"

Chuck's eyes narrowed slightly. "I thought it would make things easier for you if you couldn't see me. Don't worry, it's not just you, practically everyone I know is on the list."

Blair crossed her arms angrily as Holly attempted to take her by the elbow. "Miss. Waldorf, you'll need to come with me, you really aren't allowed to be here."

Blair simply turned the full force of the Waldorf glare on the blond nurse, daring her to do something. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Then I'll have to call security." Holly spoke her voice small, that really wasn't something she wanted to do and Blair Waldorf's current glare was damn intimidating; so that's how she'd been the Queen of the Upper East Side, Holly found herself thinking as she withered under Blair's defiant stare.

Blair averted her eyes from Holly, only to lock them with Chuck's. "Go right ahead. I've already faced off with Big Bad Bart Bass, I think I can handle his son and whatever security this hospital might throw at me." She was well aware of the effect that her words would have on Chuck and knew that there was no chance that security was about to be called.

Neither Holly nor Emma had a clue what Blair was talking about or what it had to do with the situation but Chuck sure as hell did. "You went at it with my father?" He asked incredulously, a mix of skepticism and pride in his voice.

Blair nodded, a slight smirk forming on her face. "For the second time actually."

"Why?" Chuck asked finding himself sitting up in bed.

This time as Blair looked at Chuck she wore an expression that screamed 'do you really have to ask that?'

Chuck's eyes widened again. "You confronted my father because of me?"

"Of course." Blair said with a shrug as though it were the most mundane thing in the world. Breakfast with Serena, shopping at Bergdorf's, confront Bart, spa appointment at Sephora; all just a part of the ordinary life of Blair Waldorf.

Holly and Emma were both still standing there clueless as to what was going on when Chuck turned to them. "You ladies can go. And Holly, don't worry about calling security." Holly nodded and taking Emma by the shoulder she exited quickly, relieved that the situation had been diffused and she still had her job, if only temporarily.

Once they were gone Chuck turned back to Blair. "You can sit down." Blair immediately complied as her feet and ankles were rather sore; as she sat, Chuck spoke again. "Now tell me why exactly you faced off with my father." It was something that he had never truly mustered up the courage to do so that she had not only done it, but done it twice meant the world to him.

Blair shrugged. "The first time I was looking for help finding you. I lost that one." Blair's eyes met Chuck's as she smiled ruefully. "I can't believe he still doesn't know that you're allergic to onions."

This time it was Chuck who shrugged. "I'm over it."

But Blair could see that he wasn't as she continued to speak. "Two days ago I went to see him to tell him that I found you."

"I'm sure my fath-Bart didn't appreciate being told 'I told you so' by an eighteen year old girl." Chuck commented in all seriousness.

Blair kept her eyes on Chuck; she had noticed that he had almost called Bart his father. She had never known Chuck to call him that. It was always Bart, unless he was using the name in satire. "I wasn't there to say 'I told you so.' I was there to tell him what happened to you because he's your father and he should care."

Chuck looked at Blair searchingly needing to know the result of this confrontation more than he was willing to or capable of admitting. "And who won this round?" He finally asked, unable to keep it in any longer. Right now, he didn't know who the girl standing in front of him was to him; but she had always been his friend and she would be honest with him.

"The verdict's still out but I would say the score's now Blair 1, Bart 1." She noticed Chuck smile at her words and it warmed her heart. "I would wager that I'm now officially his least favorite person."

Chuck shook his head slightly. "Impossible." He spoke, his voice soft. Blair looked at him with furrowed brow and he continued in his most impenetrable voice. "That is an honor reserved for me alone."

Blair felt her heart breaking at Chuck's pain and she acted without thinking, reaching out a hand and placing it on the side of his face. "Chuck, your father loves you; whether he realizes it or not."

Chuck felt lost in her eyes, unable to look away. A certain shock in his system had occurred the moment her hand touched his skin. The place where her skin touched his was on fire but he didn't want her to stop. Instead he found himself leaning forwards towards her, wondering what it would feel like to taste her. As his lips met her own, her hands moved to his hair grasping tightly to him. Almost instinctively as though he had done it a million times before, Chuck's hands moved to hold her, to bring her closer as their kiss deepened; his fingers twisted in her hair, relishing the feeling of her body pressed against his. Suddenly, as though someone had sucked all of the air from his lungs, he was forced to break away to breathe. As he did, he saw Blair gasping for air as well and the reality of what he had just done hit him full force. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." He said looking away.

"Why not?" Blair asked, still out of breath. "I clearly didn't mind."

Chuck shook his head. "That'll just give you the wrong impression. I haven't changed my mind." He spoke as he looked back at her but as he did he couldn't help but wonder if maybe he had changed his mind. He knew he had feelings for her, he had come to that conclusion over a week ago, but she was Blair Waldorf, of course he had feelings for her. In that same sense, because she was Blair Waldorf, she had needs, lots of needs and expectations and he wasn't the kind of guy who could fulfill those. "Why did you come here?"

Blair was doing her best to steel herself when she realized that being open and honest with Chuck was when she had gotten the closest to getting him back so instead she risked everything and left her heart wide open. "I came to bring you this." Blair said as she withdrew the iPod Touch from her purse.

"What is it?" Chuck asked, knowing that she would understand that he knew it was an MP3 player and that he was really asking her why she brought it.

Blair smiled wistfully. "You gave this to me the night I married Marcus, so that I would always have a piece of you and never forget our story. It's been updated several times since then." She handed the iPod to him. "I think you need it more than I do right now. There's pictures too." She added as almost an afterthought. She almost added that the playlist was called Always Have, Always Will but she noticed that Chuck had already turned on the iPod and found it.

Chuck looked at her strangely, not sure what else to say or do. "Is that all?" He asked almost hoping that she would refuse to leave. He didn't understand it but something in him desperately didn't want to lose her.

Blair shook her head reaching once more into her purse. "No, there's still this." She said withdrawing her engagement ring from her bag and holding it between her fingers. "When you gave this to me I refused to put it on my finger saying that when I put this ring on, I was never taking it off." As she finished speaking, she slid the ring down the bare ring finger of her left hand. "I'm not giving up on you Chuck, not now, not ever." She leaned forward and placed another kiss on his lips, one which she was delighted to find him deepening; but this time it was Blair who pulled away. She stood, maintaining direct eye contact. "Listen to the playlist, remember us, and come home to me; I'll be waiting for you." With those words she turned and walked from the room, with one last lingering glance at Chuck from the doorway.

Sorry this chapter was a little bit shorter guys, I thought the next part needed its own. Btw, I swear I'm not trying to convert anyone with my "I'll pray for you" catch phrase, I'm from North Carolina and people legitimately say that all the time (and no I'm not converting Blair either lol). Three more to go!

***IMPORTANT POLL ON MY PROFILE ABOUT NEXT CHAPTER***

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xoxo
kate