Chapter 12: Breathless

When you feel the world is crashing
All around your feet
Come running headlong into my arms
Breathless
I'll never judge you
I can only love you
Come now running headlong
Into my arms
Breathless

- "Breathless" Taylor Swift

Chuck was shrugging into his coat when he heard the unmistakable Blair walk – many light, distinct steps echoing through the sparse foyer.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath, glaring at Serena as he reflected on the three hours of sobbing and whining he'd had to endure before getting her to agree to see Nate, three hours that resulted in him losing to Blair once again.

"I'm guessing that's Blair. I – I don't know where she went," Serena sputtered, wiping her eyes before her tears got the chance to drip onto her bright pink trench. She reached the open elevator and immediately took a few steps back, her eyes wide in the realization that Blair was not alone. "Blair," she began, greeting her best friend while never letting her gaze leave Nate's.

"Hello, Serena," Blair replied, walking into the penthouse she and Serena shared at a brisk pace, with her face masked into one of distant apathy. She may have just spent the past few hours with Nate, but under no circumstances would she take sides in this conflict. Serena and Nate were her best friends, and while it was true that Serena had made a major mistake, it wasn't as if Nate had been acting the mature adult either. The trip to London was for business, it was true, but before Serena's return he had been adamant in his desire to remain firmly planted in New York, and it was obvious to Blair that Nate had taken advantage of the opportunity to escape his lost love and the imminent drama that was set to follow their only confrontation since the breakup, the argument they'd had at a Fall Fashion Week party. Blair settled for standing in the middle of the foyer, with her arms folded tightly across her chest and her eyebrows raised in expectation. But her breath was quickly released in a huff as Serena and Nate both remained silent, Nate stony-faced and Serena's one of trepidation. "Serena," Blair pressed. "Aren't you going to greet your visitor?"

"Oh, oh right," said the object of Blair's address, shifting to stand up straighter and pull up her dangling limbs. "Hi, Nate," she all but whispered.

"Serena," Nate replied, offering a swift nod in her direction.

"I suppose I should bow out now," Blair stated, her voice calm as she appraised her friends' expressions. Nate's was still frosty, Serena's still anxious, but much warmer and perhaps even hopeful. "Chuck?" she said, lifting a single dark eyebrow in the direction of the man leaning against the railing of her stairway, his hands stuffed in his trouser pockets and his mouth set in a grim line. "Coming?"

"Guess so," he muttered darkly, still seething from the near victory being wrenched from his hands. Without another word, he fell into step behind Blair, following the click-clack of her stilettos across the black and white marble floor. Before entering the elevator, she tossed her head over her shoulder once more to bid her friends goodbye.

"See you two later," she said, looking first at Nate and then Serena, peering knowingly into their glimmering blue eyes.

"Bye," Nate mumbled, as Serena offered a simple wave in Blair's direction.

On the way down, Blair's face erupted into a wide grin.

"Another victory under my belt," she sighed, twirling a strand of brown hair around her finger. "It truly is good to be queen."

"Must you always rub it in my face?" Chuck sighed with an eye roll rivaling even the queen's.

"Of course! That's what makes them all the sweeter." She sent a saccharine smile in his direction as if reaffirming her statement. "But I am curious – where did you plan on going with us if you had won?"

"I don't believe I need to share that with you," he responded crossly.

"Never even thought about, did you?" she asked derisively. "I'd imagine you knew it was a loss as soon as you remembered that I was your opponent."

"One woman cannot seriously be that conceited," commented Chuck, amusement returning to his caramel almond-shaped eyes, almost golden in the florescent light of the elevator as it rolled to a stop.

"I beg your pardon!" cried Blair in false ire, relishing in the return of her feisty, long-lost Queen B attitude.

"You heard me, Waldorf. Admittedly, it's one of the reasons why we always made such a good pair."

"Our conceitedness?" asked his counterpart as they waltzed, side-by-side, into the lobby of the Upper East Side apartment building and then onto the street, attracting no shortage of admiring looks as they went.

"Our confidence," Chuck corrected. "Though I suppose some could interpret it as being overly so."

"Well, I for one think we have every right to be confident," sniffed Blair, turning up her nose. "Not only do are we faced with no rivals in our powerful scheming skills, but also, we happen to be the best looking dynamic duo in the city."

"I believe I'm going to have to correct you a second time today," Chuck declared with a smirk. "Wrong twice in the span of a few minutes? So unlike you." Blair's eyebrows furrowed and she cast him a warning look, the unspoken words "this better be good," in her expression.

"And what am I wrong about? Please, do enlighten me."

"We're the best looking dynamic duo in the world," he said, causing her eyebrows to unravel and a genuine, sparking smile to light up her features. It was moments like this that Blair's beauty made his breath catch in his throat, and he was grateful that it was her turn to speak, since there was no chance he would be able to get any words out.

"I stand corrected." Her face then immediately became serious. "But don't get used to this, Bass! Remember, when in doubt – "

"Blair's always right, I remember," he finished with a chuckle.

"That I am." They continued on in comfortable silence until Chuck's phone rang, pulling them out of their thoughts.

"Chuck Bass," he answered, casting Blair a "don't you dare walk away" look before sauntering off to lean against the wall of a stone building. While he talked, she scrolled through her emails, flagging the ones from her minions to be dealt with later, and pulling up one from Hamilton House, the elite society she and Serena had been accepted into at Columbia. Though she was only a sophomore, Blair knew it wouldn't be long before she was the head of the club, coordinating all of its exclusive events and executing them with both style and class.

Dear Miss Waldorf,

We are pleased to inform you that, upon your acceptance into Hamilton House, you have been selected as one of the few to assist in organizing our annual holiday party, set to take place the weekend before school is out for winter break. Though it is very early in the school year, this event takes much time and dedication, and it is imperative that it goes off without a hitch. We are confident that you would be a wonderful addition to our team and would bring many positive and creative ideas to the table. Please let us know as soon as possible whether you are interested in the position.

Sincerely,

Hamilton House Board

Blair squealed with glee as she read the email, and she immediately typed out a formal and possibly over polite reply in the affirmative. Her head was already spinning with ideas for venues, caterers, and music… She couldn't wait to get started, and Chuck was going to be the first person she told. He would no doubt give her the congratulatory speech she craved, not to mention, Chuck's knowledge and opinions on all things entertainment would help her cut down her millions of ideas to a handful of the absolute best. But when she looked over to where he was standing, his face was hardened in anger, and his scarlet scarf whipped around his face, reflective of his fury. It seemed now was not the time to share her recent success story. Blair and Chuck had decided long ago that the bad news would always take precedence over the good, because the good could never feel entirely satisfactory so long as the bad hung in the air, waiting for its turn to be shared. Chuck eventually punched the end button on his phone and slipped it into his pocket distractedly while Blair joined him, a plan to confront him in a roundabout way forming in her mind.

"Chuck?" she began hesitantly, before deciding it was best to just cut to the chase. "What is it?" she asked bluntly. "What's wrong?"

"Russell Thorpe," he spat, gritting his teeth. "That's what's wrong."

"Who is Russell Thorpe?"

"An old rival of my father's," Chuck explained, still fuming but realizing Blair was the best person to tell. She gave the best advice by far out of all his friends, the only advice he commonly took; plus, their relationship the previous year gave her a foundation of knowledge on Bass Industries. "He's come back to try to buy out the company, and Lilly thinks it's a good idea to sell. I think she's going to try to convince the board of that. That was one of the older members, one who was as close to Bart as anyone could get. He thought I should know."

"You're kidding," Blair breathed, shaking her head. "Lilly wanting to sell already? You practically just took the reins…" She trailed off and looked into his eyes so forcefully, he had to look back. "Chuck. We're not going to let this happen, okay? We're going to figure out how to convince Lilly how ridiculous she's being, and if that doesn't work, then we'll fight her on it. We'll fight Russell Thorpe on it. We'll fight anyone we need to on it." Chuck felt a rush of emotion at Blair's protective nature toward him, because while he had commonly witnessed her defensiveness and steadfast loyalty, he had never expected to gain it back after the events of the previous spring. He didn't deserve it, and yet here she was, willing to help him retain his company, the thing that had torn them apart in the first place.

"Blair, you don't have to do anything. This is my problem, and I need to fix it," he said gently. As much as he appreciated having Blair on his side, he didn't want her to feel obliged to assist him in his corporate struggles.

"Oh, shut up," she replied, rolling her eyes. "You can't fight this battle alone, and you know it. It just so happens that I'm a master general, and I'm itching to get back on the battlefield."

"Blair," he protested again, despite already feeling himself giving in. He was weak when it came to Blair Waldorf.

"Chuck." She narrowed her eyes, challenging him to deny her once more.

"Thank you," said Chuck. "I'd be happy to have you as my lieutenant."

"General," Blair emphasized. "Also known as the highest ranking military officer."

"Right, how could I be so stupid, General Waldorf?" he asked sarcastically, lightly smacking his forehead.

"I've been wondering that about you for a long time now." Chuck grinned at her, grateful that she could always find ways to bring him back to a state of happiness even after disaster struck.

"I set that one up well, didn't I?"

"Like honey for a bee." She returned his smile, and they continued to walk, Chuck's limo completely forgotten as it continued to linger outside of Blair and Serena's.

Twenty minutes later, their cell phones went off simultaneously.

"Gossip Girl?" Blair asked, slower to retrieve her phone from her purse.

"Gossip Girl," Chuck confirmed. "And it looks like we're both in for a long night."

Gossip Girl: What do two scorned ex-lovers and one drunken mistake equal? Three pictures of the ugly aftermath. You know you love me.

Attached were three photos of Nate looking furious as he stormed onto the street, Serena on his heels. In the first of the trio, she too looked angry, but the other two revealed a more hysterical, pleading Serena, who was clearly crying.

"I don't think I want to know what happened."

"But we'll both find out anyway," Chuck sighed.

"Call me tonight and we'll compare their versions of events?" Blair proposed.

"Deal. And Blair?" he called.

"Yes?"

"Where are we going this winter?" He didn't expect her to tell him, and she knew he didn't expect her to.

"Not telling, Bass, but nice try!" Sometimes, it seemed they knew each other too well.

I'm so glad to see you smiling
So good to hear your laugh
I think that you've found you even
Missed yourself

Until next time – xoxo

A/N: Hope you liked the chapter! Thanks again to all who reviewed the previous one! I would love to see some suggestions for their trip destination, and any ideas about what you want to see in this fic will definitely be considered, because I literally have nothing planned out. I'm just making it up as I go along, so if there's something you'd like me to write about or include, please let me know!