A/N: Dear people that hate me when I do cliffhangers, please don't hate me! I love all of you readers, and I don't mean to torture you; it's just how I like ending chapters!

Extra love goes out to: kauraREX (I hope this CB scene doesn't disappoint you!), Dr. GG (Yay for no Louis and Raina in this one!), anabelle12 (More blog posts will come in later chapters :), Nics (Thanks! Glad you liked it!), and BekaRoo (Thank you - I hope you like this one just as much!)

And without further ramblings (for now...)

Chapter 19: Truth

It was the truth
That fell from these lips
It blinded us
And then the darkness left

So I am yours now
Respectfully
I am yours now
Truthfully

-"Truth" Bloc Party

"Nate, hey, it's me," Serena said into her phone, cradling it in her shoulder as she surfed the website of Saks Fifth Avenue. "I know it's late, but I'm done with my first blog post, and I'd really like you to read it."

"Is Blair home yet?" he asked to her surprise.

"No, why?"

"Chuck's not either, and I think he was planning something for her tonight. I don't know whether to be concerned or happy that neither of them are back," Nate said, sounding weary.

"Well, come over, and we can wait together. There's no use for us to sit up all night alone." If the possibility of staying up all night with Serena wasn't enticing enough, the next comment sealed the deal. "Plus, I have leftover gummy worms."

"I'll be right over."

"See you soon."

Minutes later, Nate entered the penthouse Blair and Serena shared, his hair in disarray but his suit miraculously unwrinkled. He abandoned his jacket and tie by the entryway, dropping them on the floor in a heap. Dorota would have had a fit had she been present, but she had already been sent home for the evening.

"Nate!" Serena greeted him, grinning. "That was fast. It was the prospect of the gummy worms that impelled your speed wasn't it?"

"You know me well," he said teasingly. "You were just part of the package deal."

"Well, maybe I should just keep these to myself then, if you don't want to hang out with me." She shook a full box of gummy worms in his face before pulling them back and plucking out a few for herself. She popped them - a red, a green, and an orange - unceremoniously into her mouth. "Mmm," she exaggerated, rubbing her stomach. "So good."

"Serena! Don't do this to me! You know gummy candy is my kryptonite!"

"Are you going to spend time with me?" Serena questioned him, eyebrows up.

"Yes," he answered automatically.

"And enjoy it?" she pushed.

"I always enjoy spending time with you," he said, no trace of sarcasm in his voice.

"In that case…" she passed him the box, but not before grabbing another handful. Nate proceeded to drop four, one after the other, into his mouth, and groaned in satisfaction. "Oh my God, it's like you're making love to them," Serena laughed. "Oh yeah," she moaned, licking the orange gummy in her possession, and replicating the noise Nate made when she chewed it.

"Hey, I did not sound like that," he interjected, silencing her sex noises.

"Pretty close." Serena shrugged. "No need to get embarrassed," she added. "It's nothing I haven't heard before, though I am slightly concerned that the same sound comes out of your mouth when you're eating gummy worms as when you're about to - "

"Okay, Serena, I got it," Nate interrupted again, pushing back his unkempt hair as flames rose to his cheeks.

"Seriously, Nate. We can talk about it. It happened. It's over. It doesn't need to be taboo," said Serena bluntly.

"I know. I guess it feels a little too soon."

"Nate," Serena said, gently placing a hand on his arm. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he replied gingerly.

"Is there any hope for us? You and me?"

"I don't know, Serena," he answered. "I don't want anyone else. I never have." The way he said it sounded sincere rather than accusatory, in spite of Serena's obvious trait to tunnel her vision toward whichever boy she was with before tiring of him in a short time. It was one of the wonders of Nate Archibald - his ability to be so accepting.

"I don't want anyone else, either, but I understand if you don't want to be with me right now. I don't want to be with me right now, but that's a little tough to accomplish," she said in a rush, followed by a breathy laugh full of nerves.

"I think what happened with Dan," Nate said, voice breaking on the name of his former best friend, "is still a little fresh, but you know how I feel, Serena. It's always been you." Serena smiled brighter than she had in a long time.

"And I think it was always going to be you."

"So what should we do?"

"I think I'm going to pull out my laptop," she answered, "and you're going to resume molesting gummy creatures." Nate laughed.

"So we're good, then? Friends?"

"You're my BFF," said Serena, cracking a smile. "But one day, you'll be my BF. Only one F," she emphasized. "That's enough for now."

"I guess that's enough for me, too," Nate responded seriously before returning her smile. "Now give me back the gummy worms!"

…

"I am an idiot. I am an idiot. I am an idiot." It was Chuck's self-inflicted chastisement, mantra, and battle cry all in one as he raced out of the doors of the New York Public Library. After Blair's rushed escape, he had stood, mute and motionless, for a few minutes deciding on what to say to Blair before realizing that in order to speak with her, he would actually need to be in her presence. "Blair!" he shouted, recognizing her silky, emerald dress and chocolate curls. He simultaneously released a breath in relief, causing the name to sound more like a breathy wheeze than a call. "Blair!" he tried again, and this time, she turned, albeit tentatively. It was obvious, even from a distance.

"What do you want, Chuck? My town car is waiting."

"And it will wait as long as you want. You're paying for it," he said, unwilling to ignore her flimsy excuse despite the fact that his situation with her was already quite precarious.

"And I'm not in the mood for arguing, either," she sighed.

"Neither am I," he answered honestly. "Blair, about that song - "

"I don't know what that was supposed to mean, you getting them to play that song," she cut him off, her voice somnolent as she stifled a yawn. "To be frank, I'm exhausted right now, and I'd rather talk about whatever it is tomorrow."

"But, Blair, please - "

"Chuck," she warned. "Tomorrow. I really am curious as to how you managed to get Couer to come on such short notice, so consider that your insurance that this conversation has a TBC footnote on the end of it."

"You know what?" he asked, his voice rising. "No."

"No?" she repeated, irate. "No?"

"I've had enough of this back and forth, Blair. We need to talk now, and if I have to steal that kid across the block's skateboard and follow your town car until you agree, then so be it." He glanced at the throng of preteen boys who were skating down the sidewalk, bound to get into trouble.

"God, Chuck, why do you have to be such a pain in the ass all the time? Don't you ever get tired?" Blair threw back.

"Not often, which I believe you can attest to," he replied, raising his eyebrows.

"On the contrary, Bass, you were always the one to wear out first."

"Well, it's difficult to be considered tireless when being compared to an insatiable siren."

"And you would know about me being insatiable wouldn't you? In light of that you were never able to satiate me," she said with a trademark, puckish smirk, and Chuck's eyes narrowed.

"Oh really?" he bit out.

"Really. Now, good night!" she told him quickly, moving toward the car.

"I don't think so, Waldorf." Chuck intercepted her before she reached it, tucking her arm in his and, despite her efforts (kicking, hitting, and scratching included), managed to drag her in the direction of Bryant Park.

"Let go of me, Bass!" Blair screeched, attempting one last shove.

"No."

"Is that your new favorite word?" she taunted, employing a new tactic - inciting his anger to the point where he was the one pushing her away. "No? Chuck, would you mind treating others with the empathy and respect expected from normal human beings? Hm," she said, pretending to ponder the question, and stroking her chin with her free hand. "No. No, I don't think he will!" Chuck pointed his face to the darkness, the moonlight painting a partially illuminated devilish grin, while obscuring the other half in shadows. "Oh, great. You think torture is funny now. Of course you do." Blair rolled her eyes as Chuck smiled wider.

"Only yours," he remarked. "It gets you feisty. And frisky, if I'm not mistaken."

"You are mistaken!" she huffed. "And while I always expect insolence from you, I really don't appreciate it when I'm dating someone as respectable as Prince Louis." Chuck guided them to a park bench and pulled her down beside him.

"You don't like respectable," he rebuked her shortly.

"I liked it, no loved it, for sixteen years until you corrupted me."

"I wasn't the source of the corruption, only the stimulant," said Chuck. "Like Gossip Girl once said, no matter how long you try to be good, you can't keep a bad girl down."

"I didn't realize you were quoting Gossip Girl to prove your points now," she sneered, getting defensive against his (true, not that she would admit it) arguments.

"You're only getting snappy with me, because you know I'm right." Her face hardened of its own accord, and Chuck kept on. "Don't ever forget that I know you better than I know myself."

"How can I if you keep reminding me?" muttered Blair. Chuck didn't answer, so she posed a different question. "Can we get to the part of the talk where you say what you need to so that I can go home?" She even added a tense "please" for good measure.

"Only because you said please." He gave her one last smirk before letting his mouth form a taut, straight line. "Listen, Blair, like I said before - I can't do this anymore, this push and pull game we keep playing. Every time I think we're moving forward, suddenly we're farther back than where we started. I thought we were friends and it was going well, and now you're furious with me, and I don't even know what I did." He sighed, and Blair took the opportunity to jump in.

"So what are you saying is you don't want to be friends? And really?" she inquired, clearly fuming. "You're going to play innocent here?"

"When, in any of that, did I imply that I didn't want to be friends? And as for your other question, I will hold onto my innocence until you tell me what I'm supposedly guilty for."

"Oh I don't know, Raina?" she spat. "One night you call me and ask me to stay on the line for you, and the next day, Gossip Girl posts a picture of her draped over you like some kind of lap dog. Was I supposed to be all right with that?"

"What?" Chuck was bewildered. He hadn't checked Gossip Girl the past couple of days, having been far too absorbed in his work for Bass Industries. "What are you talking about?"

"God, you're getting good," she said callously. "Really, you should consider acting if Bass Industries ends up falling apart."

"Blair, I'm serious!" he shouted. "The only times Raina was anywhere close to me were the night I met with her and her father for dinner and she came on to me after he left and tonight when we danced. That's it."

"You mean that - "

"I mean that I shot her down, and I only invited her tonight because I knew she would say yes, and I didn't feel like scrounging around for a date. We're not together."

"I - I didn't know," Blair said, her voice softer. "I suppose I should have asked."

"Yes, you should have," agreed Chuck. "It's not the first time Gossip Girl has been wrong."

"And yet you were quoting her only moments ago," commented Blair, a trace of a smile on her lips.

"I said she's sometimes wrong, not always," he elucidated. "To be honest, I'm surprised she hasn't sent out a bout of blasts already tonight."

"You mean like pictures of us dancing?" Blair asked dispassionately.

"Yes." Blair instantaneously started laughing so hard, she had to clutch at her sides. "What? What is it?" Chuck queried, puzzled.

"You - you said yes," she choked out. Chuck began to snort in amusement as well, not so much because of the hilarity of the basis of Blair's laughter rather than the laughter itself.

"Yes, I did," he said, just to indulge her.

"And again!" she cried with a hoot, the sound echoing in the seemingly deserted park. "Okay," she said at last, after the mirth died on her lips and their ruby color was compressed into a single stripe of red. "Keep going. Explain the song next."

"Since I know you were interested in Couer, I'll explain that first. I actually can't take credit for getting her to New York. She was already coming, but I did convince her to sing that song, as well as get the quartet to learn it in just a few hours."

"How much did it cost you?"

"All I'll say is I would have paid much more than I did. That song - it's us Blair. And I think the additional bonus that Audrey sang it can't be overlooked."

"You remember that?" she asked, dubious.

"Of course. Sabrina is one of your favorites," he answered, just as incredulous. "I remember everything you've ever told me."

"I - I don't know what to say," admitted Blair timidly.

"That's a first." She swatted Chuck's arm. "Ow! What was that?"

"I lost the ability of my lips not my appendages," she quipped, sobering swiftly. "And it was because I'm not sure I understand. Chuck, why did you have it performed?"

"You know why, Blair. 'He is for me, I am for him, in this life?' Come on, I think it's pretty obvious."

"I want you to say it regardless," she said, voice quieter still and countenance chary. The autumn wind whipped by them, and goose bumps rose on the surface of Blair's skin. The leaves of the trees danced, causing a few - glowing soft shades of red and gold in the moonlit night - to twirl to the ground. Chuck tipped her chin up to his face then held his hands on her chilled arms - their eyes met.

"Blair, I love you."

Our kind is hard to find
And if it will be
It will be with you

I am yours now
Respectfully
I am yours now
Truthfully

Until next time - xoxo

A/N: Don't you guys just love it when I tack on more stuff at the bottom? I felt I should add (well, wanted to add, hehe) that I am going to see Bloc Party (one of my favorites) in concert in September! And how is this relevant, you may ask? Well, they are the featured song in this chapter! Relevant enough, right? ;) I highly recommend their new album and all their other stuff btw, and feel free to PM me if you want specific songs. Happy listening! :)