Chuck lay on his back, the thick bath mat and towels cushioning him, but it wasn't those things that made him so content. It was the warm, soft body curled against his. Blair lay with an arm across his chest, a leg wrapped over one of his, and her breasts pressed into his side. Chuck thought nothing had ever felt as good, then he smiled, remembering making love to her, and knew that maybe one or two things could feel even better.

She was dead to the world with her head on his shoulder, and Chuck craved more of her. Not wanting to wake her, he shifted slightly to his side. She grumbled and held him tighter, but stayed asleep. He caressed her neck with soothing strokes until he was sure she was deeply gone again. Then he ran his finger gently along her perfect jaw, and ever so carefully tilted her face up so that he could see her better in the dim light of the flickering candles. His gaze took in every feature, every angle, every inch of her face. She really was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

In that moment he wasn't thinking of the past or the future. In that moment he couldn't stop thinking about how perfect right now was with her. With the wind a fading howl in his ears, and the image of her face before him, Chuck finally drifted off to sleep.

"Mr. Bass?! MR. BASS?!" Chuck jerked awake at the sound of his name being yelled from a distance, and he very nearly upheaved a now stirring Blair. This wasn't really surprising given that she was pretty much sleeping on top of him.

"We're in here!"

Chuck's mind was instantly alert, which wasn't new, because if he wasn't hung over he generally woke up clear headed. Apparently the same could not be said for Blair.

"Wha-at's going on?" She grumbled as she sat up and then clutched her head with a groan. While Chuck had been nowhere near the top of his tolerance last night, Blair had had enough alcohol to be feeling it this morning.

"I believe we're about to be rescued..." Chuck said as he sat up. He looked at her and waited, counting the seconds to the reaction he anticipated. He didn't have to wait long.

Blair looked around her for a moment, then looked down at her bare self, then looked at an equally naked Chuck, and realization dawned in her eyes.

"Oh, my god!" She gasped and pulled a towel around her naked body as she started frantically looking for the tiny pieces of her bikini.

"Well that's sounds familiar..." He said as he found his robe. And he couldn't resist adding it as he watched her awkwardly covered herself with the towel as she tried to modestly pull on her suit. "I believe I heard that more than a few times from your lips..."

She stopped struggling to get her bottoms on, and cast him a withering glare. "I don't know what you're talking about."

His head cocked sideways. "I would tell you I can see your right nipple, but since I've already committed it to memory..."

She gasped and adjusted the towel over her shoulders more securely, but by doing so she inadvertently exposed her behind.

"Thank you." Chuck sighed. "I'm more of an ass man myself, and I must say... yours is spectacular."

Her eyes narrowed. "Shut up! As far as I'm concerned, last night never happened."

She turned her back on him and so missed his look of regret at bating her. He hadn't been able to help doing it, having not liked the pain that landed in him at seeing her horror over her morning realization of what had happened. He didn't regret last night, and he didn't like seeing that she did.

He heard the rescuers working to clear what he assumed was a lot of debris from the door, and glanced that way. He looked back at her just in time to see her shoulders momentarily slump.

"Blair..." He began softly.

"I'm married, Chuck." She reminded them both. "I'm married."

As they heard the door rattle, she turned around and their eyes met.

He'd stepped away from her by the time the door opened.

After that there was a rush of rescue workers guided them out of what was left of the villa. They both squinted as the bright sun in the clear blue sky hit their eyes. It was a beautiful day... with the exception on the near flattening of the resort.

After being checked out, they were whisked to the airport just in time to see the Bass jet land on the hastily cleared runway. After dozens of people having been around them in the last few hours, Blair and Chuck found themselves alone on the plane as it prepared for takeoff.

Blair had taken a seat by the window, and after fastening her seatbelt, she'd quickly opened the window's shade to focus all her attention out there, and not on the man in here with her.

Chuck took a seat on the other side of the plane, but he didn't look out the window. He looked at Blair, willing her to meet his gaze, but she didn't, so he hit the call button and summoned their lone flight attendant so she could bring him a drink.

They didn't speak, but despite the tension and stress of the last 24 hours, or maybe because of it, Blair fell into a deep sleep shortly after takeoff. Almost against his will Chuck stood and moved to stand over her. A lock of dark hair had fallen across her cheek, and Chuck gently swept it off her face.

"Mrs. Humphrey?" A voice called to Blair through her dreams. "Mrs. Humphrey?"

The shaking is what finally got to her and she awoke with a start to see the flight attendant standing over her. The woman smiled. "I'm sorry I had to wake you, but we'll be landing shortly."

Blair nodded, still dazed, and the woman continued. "Your families are all waiting to meet the plane when we land."

Blair nodded again, but still said nothing, waving the woman away. Their families. Her family. Her husband. Blair's mind railed at her. How was she going to face him? She'd told Chuck that nothing had happened, she'd told herself that it had just been sex. She'd lied to both of them. Something had happened and it had been more than just sex.

She looked over her shoulder at him as the plane touched down, and her heart jumped in her chest. And as they stood waiting for the stairs to be lowered and the door to open, Blair looked over at him and opened her mouth to say... what she didn't know, but to say something to take back her harsh words from before.

He spoke before she did. "Don't worry, Mrs. Humphrey. I've had meaningless sex before. I don't even think what happened between us is worth talking about..."

She shut her mouth. She turned her head away from him and stood looking forward.

Then the door opened and she saw Dan standing by his dad's car with his family behind him.

"Blair!" He yelled across the tarmac and started running towards her.

She unconsciously took a step back, and her body came into contact with the heat from Chuck's. His hand came up to the small of her back as if he'd thought she'd stumbled and he was trying to steady her. The way his hand lingered and the warmth of it was like a tattoo on her skin. Dan yelled her name again, and she shook her head to clear it. She stepped away from Chuck and his touch.

"Dan!" She yelled back as she pasted an excited smile on her face. She skipped down the stairs, across the ground, and into her husband's arms.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck.

"I was so worried about you." He said in her ear.

She shut her eyes and tried to make his words matter more to her, but they didn't. She cheated a look over to where Chuck had come down the stairs to be nearly tackled by Serena. A woman, who Blair guessed was their mother, came forward to kiss his cheek. Blair thought that was sweet... until a third woman came forward. She was beautiful, with dark wild curls, but her clothes... Blair shuddered. She dressed like she came from Brooklyn. While they didn't hug or kiss or anything really, Blair knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was Chuck's mysterious girlfriend. Blair hated her on sight.

A week later Blair lay in her bed, the covers pulled up around her shoulders, and tried to block out the voices of her husband and sister-in-law outside her door. It wasn't working.

"She can't be that upset."

"She nearly died." Dan defended his wife.

"Yes, I understand that... which is why I postponed my wedding, but I need to set a date, and she needs to be up, out of bed and not smelling like a coma patient the family won't let the state unplug."

"Enough!" Dan snapped. He had to admit he was surprised Blair was taking her experience with the hurricane so hard. He had seen her in some really rough spots, and she'd become hyperefficient. Nothing close to the woman that lay in their bed now. "Blair needs some time. Nate's not going anywhere, so you're wedding can wait another couple of weeks."

A clack of stomping, angry heel as Jenny stormed away was all Blair could hear for a few minutes. She pulled the covers over her head to dull the sharp sound. She must have missed the sound of the door opening, because she jumped when Dan sat down on the bed beside her.

She spoke before he did as she pulled the covers off her face. "I'm going back to work on Monday."

Dan looked at her carefully. "Are you sure? Didn't Chuck say to take all the time you need?"

"When your employer nearly gets you killed that's pretty much what they all say." She bit out.

"Then why not-"

"I'm going back to work on Monday." She repeated firmly before pulling the blankets up over her head again.

A few hours later Chuck sat at his desk reading and rereading the email he'd gotten from Blair saying that she'd be returning to work on Monday. He told himself he wasn't happy about this, because he should wish that she'd just quit and disappear from his life. He could go back to feeling the way he always had, which was pretty much ambivalent about many things in life. But he couldn't do it, he couldn't truly feel any of that, because he was too happy that she was coming back. He had missed her, he'd never tell her that or of his happiness, but he had and he was.

"Hey, are you ready to go?"

Chuck quickly x-ed out of his emails and logged off his computer before looking up at his girlfriend. He nodded as he stood up, and he buttoned his jacket as he looked at her. They'd been together off and on since High School. She'd been a charity case from Brooklyn and he'd been the richest kid in Manhattan. She'd over-cared about everything, and he'd cared about next to nothing. The one thing they'd agreed upon was that her sister was the best pot grower and supplier in the city, and it had been enough at the start... okay, he'd been high or drunk for most of their start.

After a million breakups in High School, they'd pulled it together from prom to graduation. They'd broken up when he'd gone to Yale and she'd gone to NYU, much to all their parents' relief, but they'd gotten back together for a summer, and then split again when she'd dropped out and joined PETA and the Peace Corps... or one or the other or both at the same time. He could never quite keep it all straight. A few months ago she'd landed in town again, and they'd started up again because it was like putting on an already warn in pair of old, ugly shoes that didn't work with any of your current wardrobe.

"Is she going to be there?" She asked with a curled lip of disgust.

"She is my sister..."

"Not by blo-"

Chuck shot her a look that made her shut up. Lily, Serena and Eric may not be of his blood, but they were his family through and through. His jaw was set as they started out of his office.

"Sorry." She offered and sought to change the subject. "So, when are you hiring a new assistant?"

"I'm not." Chuck didn't look at Blair's desk, not in front of his girlfriend. "She'll be back on Monday."

Oblivious to his tone she talked on. "Well, I guess she's not going the lawsuit route. Which is good, but surprising... since she kinda looked like a bitch."

"Vanessa?"

"Hmmm?"

"Shut up."