A/N: Okay, this chapter was a lot easier to write than I anticipated. I've actually had it sitting on my computer a few days. :D I'm so proud of myself. This is the last chapter in School Lies. I anticipate one chapter between this episode and the next, but maybe not even that. I think some of you figured out how this chapter is going to end, but the twist was something I didn't even know I was going to do until I was writing it. I hope it takes you by surprise too!

SPECIAL THANKS to my beta. Isa, you're the bestest! -kiss-

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gossip Girl's Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf, I just want to prove they can stand by each other through anything.

Chapter 33

"This Time Around"

Chuck had escaped from his father's engagement party shortly after Serena claimed that she was going to get some air. Since he'd been dying to do the same thing the whole evening, it seemed like the perfect time to get away. He had been feeling stifled ever since showing up at Bart's request; seeing how happy his father had become was hard to handle when Chuck himself was so miserable. Misery must really love company because being faced with the joy in his father's eyes had made it hard to breathe.

And since he couldn't have the company he craved, he'd have to settle for being alone. It had always been good enough for him in the past and he'd just have to get back into the swing of being a loner.

So he'd escaped as soon as he could manage it and wandered down the hall, around the corner where he couldn't be seen and slid down to sit on the floor with his back against the wall. His hand was itching for a glass of scotch, but he'd neglected to grab one before making his exit, so it would have to wait. If he could justify leaving without announcing his exit, he would just go back to his suite and drink away the silence.

He'd known Serena might follow him; from the way she'd been studying him all night, it was obvious that she'd seen what she was looking for. It was why he'd done his best to turn up his normal sleaze and make the expected jokes about missed childhood memories and bathing together. But the blonde was too nosy for her own good and it seemed she'd set her sights on annoying him into giving her something to bring back to Blair. He shouldn't have let her see him so upset the night before, but he couldn't help how wrecked he was after witnessing Blair's anguish. Feeling for her wasn't something he could switch off anymore and that's why Serena had witnessed his own torment.

Now he heard the sound of heels coming his way and it was too late to pull his leg toward himself to keep Serena from seeing his foot on the floor.

Plus, it would cheer him up to got to see her almost trip when she came around the corner.

"Chuck!" She had staggered a little, fixing him with a glare. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"Checking the length of your skirt, Sis." He sneered. "I say a little higher."

"Stop it!" Then she actually stamped her foot. "What is with you tonight?"

To escape the foot, just in case she decided to aim next time, he stood and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. "Why would you say that? I'm just being myself."

"No, you're not." She asserted, "You're deflecting. Acting like an ass so I won't ask questions."

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Obviously I'm going to have to try a different approach."

"Please, don't." Serena sighed and spoke softly, "You can talk to me, you know."

"What could I possibly have to talk about?" He spread his arms and thrust out his chest. "I'm perfectly content."

"Liar." She reached out and guided his arms back to his sides. "You're miserable. I've been watching you all night and you're miserable without her."

He scoffed even though she was right on target. "You're delusional."

"No, I'm not." Shaking her head, she continued, "I know now how much this affecting you. Last night I saw you hurting as much as she is."

"Then you need to have your vision checked; you must need glasses if you're seeing things that aren't there." He studied his fingernails as he suggested, "Or maybe you should cut out some manicures and up your shrink appointments..."

"Why do you do that?!" She shoved him back against the wall and threw her hands down at her sides in frustration. "I'm trying to help you!"

Chuck tightened his hands into fists. "And I don't want your help!"

As he turned and walked a few paces away from her, she passed right by him to face him again. "Why not, Chuck? Afraid of what you'll say?"

"Talking won't help." Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply before meeting hers. "I know we're gonna be related, but you don't have to show so much interest in my welfare. It's fake concern and it'll get you nowhere with me. Go back to your best friend and tell her I'm as much of a monster as ever and push her into Nate's arms where she wants to be. It's inevitable." He sighed. "Just leave me alone."

She blinked in shock. "If you'd just talk to her, you'd know Nate is the last person she wants. You'd know she'd do practically anything to undo whatever caused this mess." She grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it gently. "You'd know how much she loves you."

He stiffened in place, the thought of Blair admitting her feelings to her best friend causing hope to inflate his heart, squeezing out a beat a little more lively than the others of late. Then he shook himself out of it. "Talking to her will only make things worse. She needs to forget about me."

"Pushing her away only hurts you both, Chuck. Why won't you just go to her? Why are you making this so difficult?"

He turned away from Serena. "I've realized that I can't make her happy. She needs to move on, no matter how much it hurts me." Turning his head towards the wall, he confessed, "No matter how much I love her."

While Serena was standing in stunned silence behind him, he took a few slow steps, rounded the corner and made his way toward the elevator.

This time, Serena let him leave.

In her room, Blair was dialing Serena for the fourth time... and her best friend still wasn't picking up. It was really starting to upset her. Being alone in her apartment, her mother out of town and Dorota gone for the night, the silence was deafening. The walls felt like they were closing in on her and she just couldn't handle it. Even though she'd practically decided to go back after Nate, her thoughts were still spinning in the direction of his best friend.

Being alone with her thoughts was the scariest thing in the world right now. Her fingers were itching to dial Chuck's number, but every time she started to type it in she jabbed the clear button. Calling Chuck would be disastrous. She recalled the acidic words he'd spoken to her the previous night then compared them to the look in his eyes and the way he'd watched her earlier that day; something was different and she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Something was about to happen, something big, and Blair could feel that any choice she made now would change everything. If she stayed as she was – single, frightened, and alone – it would give whatever was wavering between her and Chuck a chance to settle. But if she followed her plan and went back to Nate, it could either improve her current situation or bring her world crashing down around her. It could either be the best choice she'd ever made or the worst.

What if Nate had decided not to take her back? Their interaction that afternoon may have pushed him away for good. And if they got back together, it was possible everything would fall apart anyway. It was possible they wouldn't be able to stand each other or they would fight.

If she went back to Nate, she was sure Chuck would never take her back. But would choosing Nate lead Chuck to finally telling his best friend that he'd been Blair's first? That he loved Blair and couldn't bear watching her with Nate? Was being with Nate the only way to get Chuck to come clean?

Everything was such a mess and her mind was driving itself around in circles with confusion over what her next step should be. Should she choose practicality with Nate? Should she chance either agony or bliss with Chuck?

Of course, there was also the baby to consider; no matter which road she chose, the child she carried would probably make either a dead end.

Her situation seemed hopeless; running in any direction that would get her far, far away from her life right now seemed like the best idea she'd ever had. Would her mother let her leave Manhattan for Lyon before Spring Break started? Getting out of New York was all she wanted to do right now and her powers of persuasion could best her mother's without much effort.

There was a sudden, soft knock on her door before it swung slowly open and Nate appeared. After the way that they had parted that afternoon, him coming over was the last thing she'd expected.

"Nate... what are you doing here?"

He shoved his hands deep in his pockets. "I got a text from Serena saying I should come over. That you wanted to talk."

"Oh, yeah." So that was why her best friend hadn't picked up her phone... it seemed the blonde was picking up some scheme pointers after all. "You're probably wondering why I would ask you here."

Steadily, he met her eyes. "After our last conversation, yeah."

She carefully considered how to start the conversation that could change her life. "Do you think it's possible for two people who've been through as much as we have to really forgive and forget?" At this Chuck's face briefly went through her mind and she did her best to force the image back down below the surface of her consciousness. Either she would be with Nate and be happy or she would be with Nate and Chuck would finally admit the way he felt.

There were no other options that Blair would accept.

Nate studied her for a moment. "If we really want to, I think we can."

Taking a deep breath, Blair decided to take the plunge and risk his rebuff. "I've realized that maybe things didn't work out between us because we were never friends. Since Monaco you've become my friend, Nate." Then she took a deep breath and suggested, "Even though a lot of mistakes have been made..."

He cut her off eagerly. "If you're ready to forgive me, then nothing can tear us apart this time around." Reaching for her hands, he leaned in to stare into her eyes. "I promise."

"What you said earlier... I still care about you." She gulped. "Always have, always will."

Nate pulled her into his arms and kissed her; Blair resisted every urge to push him away.

Somehow, she'd get through this. Her sanity depended on it.

Even though her heart just shattered to pieces, at least she'd still be sane.

Standing outside Blair's building, Chuck stared up at the light in the window. He'd followed his best friend here after using the phone he'd swiped from Serena to text his friend. The plan had been easy to execute, but watching the shadows in the window was killing him. As it had to see Blair's number light up her best friend's phone several times after he'd sent the text message.

When the silhouette's merged together, he knew it was over. Nate and Blair were together again and he was the odd man out. It was funny, but orchestrating their reunion hadn't made him feel any better about the fact that his best friend would now be the one she ran to.

Nate would be the one to hold her while she slept. It was Nate that would have the right to touch her and call her his.

Just thinking about it made him want to vomit.

She was going to be happy. Even if it caused him agony, it was the only thing he would except; Blair's happiness was more important to him than anything. Knowing that his best friend was everything that she's always wanted meant that guiding them back together would achieve that goal. He would bring the smile back to her face and the light back to her eyes.

Pushing her back to his best friend was only too easy... she must have been wavering more than he'd thought when he'd seen them part in the courtyard.

He would be damned if the girl would cry over him again. Not if he could help it. Causing Blair pain was a thing of the past and he'd just done the only thing he knew would prevent her tears. The only thing he knew could help her forget what they had once meant to each other.

Now he just had to survive the hell of seeing them together.

Funny how what he'd been dreading was now going to be his doing. It was going to be hard to remember that when he was actually faced with what he'd done. He'd put them together. The two people he cared most for were going to get some peace; that was what he wanted.

His own contentment wasn't possible so he'd sacrificed it for theirs.

Chuck started walking back toward the limo sitting at the end of the block. Lighting a cigarette, he watched the ash burn after taking a deep drag.

Fleetingly he decided this was how it must feel to burn.

A/N: You're not allowed to kill me. Seriously, you're not. I'm the only one who can fix what I've just done! -RUNS-