She woke up in his bed with his arm flung casually over her waist. Again. She tried her best to get out of there without waking him but she had hardly moved an inch before his grip turned vice-like and he opened his eyes.

"You're not going anywhere, Waldorf." He mumbled huskily, "Not this time."

"Get off of me, Chuck." She said, pulling his arm off and wrapping the sheet around herself as she stood up. "This was a mistake."

"If that's true," He said, grabbing his boxers off of the floor and sliding them back over his hips, "Then how come you keep coming back for more?"

She looked at him with an angry scowl, but he could see the tears welling up in her eyes, "Because I'm weak," She said in a broken voice, "Just like Gossip Girl said back in high school. When it comes to you I'll always be weak. No matter how hard my brain tries to fight it, my heart and my body will always be pulled in by that deep, seductive voice and those lecherous, dark eyes. There is this magnetic pull you have over me and I can't escape it. But you already know that."Her eyes narrowed as she pointed a finger at him, "You know exactly what to do to make me fall right back into bed with you."

"You're right." He said bluntly, "But do you think that is why I do it? Do you really think this is just about the sex to me?" He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "God, Blair, don't you get it? I want more than this. I want something real. I want you, in every way."

She looked at him like he was crazy, and really, he couldn't blame her. If anyone else had heard what he had just said they would be thinking the same thing. Chuck Bass, asking for more than sex? Asking for an actual relationship? It was unimaginable.

Finally, Blair shook her head, "I can't do this," she said as she began to gather her clothing, "I have to go."

She turned around to pick up her skirt and found one of her shoes thrown under a chair.

"Why won't you let me love you?" She spun around and saw that Chuck had risen to his feet and was slowly approaching her, "I know I have messed up and hurt you in the past, but I know you still love me. You basically just admitted it. Why won't you just let us be together?"

He reached forward to touch her, but she slapped his hand away before he could make contact, "You think I don't want to? You think that every time I'm with you I don't want to just give in and stay right there in your arms?" Her tears had returned, and this time a few spilled over onto her cheeks, "I want to; God, I want to so badly, but I can't."

She looked at him and shook her head, "I can't trust you, Chuck, not after everything. You said it yourself, we will never be safe. And yes, that is part of what I love about us; the danger and the passion and the fire, but I want stability too. I've always had a plan for my life and there are things I want to do that I'm not sure I can accomplish with you. I want to finish school and get a job and get married and have a family. And I don't think you can give me that." She shrugged her shoulders in defeat, "We can't even last a year together without self-imploding, so how could we ever make it through marriage and children?"

"We could, Blair, don't you see?" He took a step closer to her, "I'm not the same person I was last time. That was my first attempt at letting someone in; making myself completely vulnerable and I didn't do it well. I opened my heart to you, but it was only a tiny crack, just enough for you to sneak through. And at the first sign of trouble I pushed you out and sealed it right back up again."

He looked at her pleadingly, trying desperately to get her to believe him, "But I'm different now. I've grown. The past couple of years without you have helped me realize just how stupid I was. I didn't need to protect myself from you; I know that now and I will never make that mistake again." He took her hand and placed it on his chest, "My heart is open, wide open. It is cemented open, but only for you. I'll never close myself off to you ever again. I know you have no reason to believe me, Blair, but if you just give me a chance I can prove to you-," He squeezed his eyes closed and pressed his face to her cheek, "Please," He breathed against her skin, "Please, Blair, give me the chance."

She sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes, allowing a few more tears to escape. "Chuck-," She choked.

He moved to press his forehead to hers and he placed his hands on her face, "Please, Blair."

He was begging now. She didn't think she had ever seen him so desperate and it finally broke her resolve. "Okay," She whispered. He looked at her with wide eyes, hardly believing his ears before she continued, "But we have to go slow. Really, really slow. I can't be hurt again, Chuck, I don't think I would survive it."

"Blair, I promise I won't-"

"Don't," She cut him off, "Don't make empty promises. Just-, just prove to me, okay?"

"I can do that," He said quickly, nodding his head as a large, genuine smile spread across his face, "I can-, I will. Don't worry, Blair. I know you can't trust me right now, but I'll show you. I will."

"Okay, Bass," She laughed, pushing him away slightly, "Calm down. I don't think I've ever seen you this joyous. It's scaring me a little."

"Sorry, Love," He said, pulling her close again, "You just bring out the best in me."

She rolled her eyes but smiled when he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle, chaste kiss. They were taking it slow, after all.

…

The twins could not be more excited for their plans on their last evening of freedom. Their parents had taken the three younger children to visit Harold and Roman in France for the week and since Ed and Theo had missed more than the acceptable days of school in the first semester of their senior year, they were required to remain at home, alone.

Their family was returning the next morning, so in order to take advantage of the empty penthouse the boys had invited over a pair of dancers from Julliard and they were eagerly looking forward to seeing if these girls were just as flexible as they claimed to be.

Ed was busy making the girls drinks when Theo received a phone call from none other than Anne Archibald. He debated ignoring the call, since she had been blatantly disregarding him for weeks, but in the end his curiosity got the best of him. He excused himself and walked just outside of the room to answer the call, "Well hello, Archibald. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Hey, Bass," She said shortly, "Are you and your brother at home?"

"We are…" He trailed off questioningly, waiting for her to continue.

"Great, we will be there in fifteen minutes."

Theo cleared his throat awkwardly, "You know that I usually welcome your company for an evening, Archibald, but Edward and I are actually entertaining guests this evening."

"Well make the whores leave," Anne commanded, "Because we are already in the cab."

Ed's brow furrowed, "Who is this 'we' you keep talking about?"

His question was met with silence before he heard Anne sigh, "We'll be there soon. If the skanks aren't gone when we arrive, there will be hell to pay, and I know you don't want that, Theodore."

"It will be taken care of."

"Good." She said before hanging up the phone without waiting for his reply.

"Good-bye to you too, Lover," Theo said as he rolled his eyes.

He pocketed his phone and rejoined his brother and their guests in the room. Ed looked at him suspiciously, "Who was on the phone, Theo?"

Theo looked at him for a moment before he turned his attention to the girls, "I'm sorry, ladies, but that was an old family friend. It seems like there has been a change of plans and my brother and I are going to have to take a rain check on this evening. I hope you don't mind."

The girls pouted, but began to say it was not a problem before Ed held up his hand and rose to his feet, "Theodore, can I speak with you for a moment." He said pointedly as he directed his brother to the far side of the room so they could talk in private.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" He hissed once they were far enough away.

Theo sighed, "Look, I'm sorry, but Anne called and she said-"

"I knew it." Ed interrupted, "This is bullshit. Just because you have a new piece of ass coming over here to entertain you for the evening doesn't mean you get to kick out my source of fun. I know your precious Anne won't approve of them, but I don't give a shit. Why don't you just grow a pair and tell her to deal with it."

Theo crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow at his brother, "Are you done?"

Ed matched his expression perfectly, "Why? Do you really have a legitimate defense for trying to cock-block me?"

"Anne isn't coming alone," Theo explained, "She didn't say exactly who is coming, but I think it might be Emily."

Ed's anger disappeared as he stared at his twin in shock before his eyes narrowed suspiciously, "And why would you come to that conclusion? Emily is in DC and there is no way her parents would let her back in the city, especially not to go out alone with Anne."

Theo shook his head in bewilderment, "I don't know, it was just…the way she was talking. I can't explain it-, it just wasn't like a typical booty call, you know?"

Ed's jaw clenched before he let out a frustrated sigh, "Fine. But if Emily is not with her, do not think for one second that I am going to let you enjoy a nice, uninterrupted evening with your concubine."

Theo rolled his eyes, "Fine. Now, come on, we need to get the dancers out of here. Anne said they would be arriving soon."

…

As they rode the elevator up to the penthouse, Anne reached over and squeezed Emily's hand reassuringly, "Don't worry, Em, everything is going to be okay."

Emily was staring straight ahead, completely petrified. She was taking deep, even breathes, choosing to focus on that so as not to break down in a panic. She couldn't believe she was here. She couldn't believe she was doing this. "You don't know that." She said quietly, never taking her eyes off the doors in front of her.

"No," Anne conceded, "But even if Ed turns out to be even more of a dick than I think he is, I'll still be here for you."

Emily swallowed deeply as they finally reached the top floor of the building, "I don't know if that will be enough," she whispered under her breath as the doors slid open.

…..

A/N: Blah, this chapter got really long, so I cut out the last section and moved it to the next chapter. Also, the flashback kind of relates more to the next chapter than this one, but I promised it would be now, so here it is. Also, the connection is vague at best, but future flashbacks will be more directly related.

Now go review! Because of the unexpected cut-off, the next chapter is almost half written. Get excited.