It had grown dark by the time they arrived back at CeCe's house, the sun and their summer now slipping away behind the horizon until the next year should come. There was a bittersweetness to the ending of the sunny months; the time had passed them by at once in a flash and ever so slowly. As she watched the chapter close, the feeling that they'd wasted their time had settled heavily over Blair, now so pressing and consuming that she could not bear to repress her thoughts any longer.

'Let's swim.' She announced from her position mere feet from the water. Her were eyes fixed on the calm, glistening pool that had been barely disrupted all season long.

She heard him laugh behind her but did not turn to look back.

'Why not? I promise you don't have to get your hair wet.' Blair teased, hearing him snicker in return.

Chuck, then emerging from behind her, eyed the pool with patent suspicion. 'You really want to swim? Right now?'

He'd never been a great fan of the water, more a fond appreciator of the scanty costumes its presence inspired.

Blair nodded. 'Come on, it's our last night!' She paused a moment, turning to examine his dubious expression. 'Unless… You had other plans?'

For a moment, she wondered if Chuck might take her bait and call one of the many numbers he'd added to his strange sex notebook since their arrival, disappearing for the night.

'Nothing hugely pressing.' He relented, following her path. Chuck sat with crossed legs by the edge of the pool and skimmed his fingers slowly through its surface, watching the water ripple gently. Then, with a glint of mischief in his eye, he turned his face up towards her. 'But only if you skinny dip.'

Blair laughed. 'When pigs fly, Bass.'

'Worth a try.' He grinned, trailing his hand back through the water and flicking the droplets that clung to his fingertips in her direction. 'I'll convince you some day.'

'Your unwavering efforts to achieve the impossible are certainly commendable.' She agreed, dodging the spray. 'Back here in five?'

Chuck's mouth quirked and he nodded once. Before he could change his mind, Blair hurried towards the house and headed for her bedroom door.

Her bags had been mostly packed for their departure the next morning, but a small selection of clothing still sat neatly folded in the drawers. She rifled through what was left to find her remaining swimwear. Like he'd planted it there himself, she discovered the final swimsuit available to her was the very same one Chuck had commented on earlier in the day.

'You've got to be kidding me.' Blair whispered to herself, stifling an incredulous giggle. Lifting the purple string bikini from the small pile of thing, she exhaled slowly, shaking her head.

It wasn't precisely that she wanted to wear the swimsuit he'd complimented her on that day, rather the mere call of necessity that found her stripping her tennis dress over her head and tying the flimsy strings around body. That he'd get a kick out of it was no big deal, or at least such was what she told herself, as she adjusted the straps and reached for a towel before hurrying back out to the gardens.

Perhaps, Blair thought, if she'd beaten him back to the pool, she could dive in and let the water and darkness envelop her; perhaps he'd not even notice.

But luck was not on her side. Lounging like a lazy wildcat against a cushioned deckchair, Chuck, still fully clothed, sipped idly from a glass of scotch.

She approached him with a frown. 'Did we misunderstand each other? Why are you still dressed?' Blair demanded, gesturing vaguely at his stretched limbs.

'Oh the times I've longed to hear you say those very words.' He teased, smirking.

Blair groaned, rolling her eyes. She held the towel beneath her arms tight.

'Don't fret, princess. I was just getting supplies.' He gestured to a glass of white wine on the edge of the pool. 'From Lily's personal, private stash in the cellar.' Chuck added lifting the open bottle to salute her.

Blair's expression evened out and she moved closer, her bare feet soundless against the ground. 'I suppose, in light of your bravery, I can excuse your insolence this once.'

Careful not to let her towel slip, she took a seat by the edge of the pool and sipped from the chilled glass- Lily's personal, private stash was certainly stellar quality.

'Go on, then.' He nudged her back gently with the tip of his foot. 'You can test the temperature.'

Thinning her lips, Blair set the glass back down. She wasn't sure how she'd be able to slip into the pool without him recognising the bikini and thinking it some homage to him.

It wasn't long before she realised the feat was futile. So, rising to her feet, Blair shed her towel and dove into the pool headfirst. The water was cleansing- crisp and smooth like silk against her body. But when she came to the surface for air, the first thing she saw was Chuck biting a grin from his lips.

'I see you dressed for me. How generous.' He commented dryly. 'The real thing is even better than my memories.'

Blair rolled her eyes as she swam back towards the pool edge. 'Don't flatter yourself, it was the only one left that wasn't packed.'

'You can't begin to fathom how much I appreciate it, nonetheless.' Chuck said, leering at her from his reclined position.

He got to his feet then, placing his almost-empty Scotch glass and the bottle of wine on the pool edge.

'Are you going to change at last?' Blair asked, watching his languid movements.

'Don't be ridiculous.' Chuck scoffed.

Instead of making his way towards the house, as she'd expected, Blair watched him casually unbutton his shirt, slide it off his shoulders and fold it neatly on the deck chair. Next, he slipped out of his shoes, socks and pants, adding them to his meticulous pile until he was left in just his underwear.

'Bass.' Blair interrupted from the water, pretending to cover her eyes. 'I was serious about the skinny dipping. Don't you dare-'

'Relax, I'm not going any further tonight.' He assured her, moving back towards the water.

'Oh- okay.' She frowned.

Blair was trying her very best not to assess his body, not to compare it to that of her boyfriend's, but she couldn't help but notice the slender definition of his muscles, the self-assured way he moved his body. There was something rather eye catching about him. Naturally she'd never entertain the idea of debasing herself by becoming one of them, but seeing him in such a way did give her a greater deal of understanding as to the motivations of the reams of women he'd slept with. She'd never dare say it aloud, but Chuck had an inherent attractiveness about him.

He slipped almost silently into the water and glided over to her, his head above the surface at all times.

'You really won't get your hair wet?' She laughed. Suddenly feeling a little too sobered by her lusty appraisal of his physique, Blair reached for her wine glass and took a long sip.

'Would you let a greasy-fingered toddler paw a masterpiece?'

'No.' Blair conceded.

'Then you have your answer.'

She chuckled at his lofty self-assessment. Dipping her fingers into the pool, Blair rose her hand high above his head, dribbling water onto his meticulously styled hair.

He glowered at her with narrowed eyes. 'I can't tell you precisely when, or how, but you'll pay for that.'

'Ooh, scary.' Blair grinned, drinking again from her glass before he took it from her grasp, finished it and poured another helping.

'Sorry I dragged you to that party.' She offered, watching him drink.

'Someone had to keep an eye on you.' He waved her apology off casually, offering her the wine glass back.

'But it should have been Nate.' She countered, her mouth tasting bitter at the thought.

That, he could not argue with, so Chuck averted his gaze and sipped from the glass they shared. Silence fell between the pair for a while. Blair looked out at the shadowy tennis courts, while Chuck focussed on the glass, rotating it by its stem and listening to it grate against the edge of the pool.

It was Chuck that spoke at last. 'Can I ask you something?'

'Sure.' Blair shrugged.

'Don't you think it's a little short sighted to be dedicating your whole life to Nate already?' He asked. 'I mean, you practically have your fingers closed around the Vanderbilt ring and he can't even show up to a single evening.'

She frowned, frustrated to have been reminded of her boyfriend's absence that night.

'He's just going through a hard time right now.' Blair protested, straightening her shoulders.

'With what exactly?' He drawled, eyeing her carefully.

She couldn't help but notice that he had that look in his eye again- the one that told her he knew much more than he was willing to let on.

'Listen.' She said sharply. 'I don't expect you to understand what it means to love somebody, but I love Nate, and he loves me. Whatever it is he's going through, I'm going to be by his side.'

For a moment, Blair would have sworn she saw pity worry his features, but it wasn't long before Chuck's expression returned to its standard nonchalance.

'Fine, you love him. But don't you ever wonder what else is out there? What if you get bored of him? The rest of your life is a very long time to have sampled only one flavour.'

'Never.' She insisted quickly, drinking a large gulp of wine. 'I know how I feel, and I know how he feels too.' Blair said, promising herself it was true.

Chuck raised his eyebrows, but moved closer to her to reach for the glass. 'Never?' He drew the word out.

'No. Never.' Blair breathed, pushing herself nearer to the edge of the pool to avoid his arm brushing her.

'What if I don't believe you?' He mused.

'That's not really my problem.' She sang sweetly.

Chuck ran his tongue over his teeth and tutted. 'I think you're just scared.'

Blair scoffed. 'Hardly. What's there to be afraid of beside an existence as lonely as the one you're creating for yourself?'

'Touché.' He smirked. 'Perhaps my lifestyle wouldn't suit you, but you have to admit you're afraid of the unknown.'

'If the unknown you're talking about a knowledge of habits like yours, I think I'd prefer to remain ignorant, thanks.' She offered him her sweetest smile, the one she reserved for teachers who didn't understand the order of things at Constance.

'Still don't believe you.'

'Still not my problem.' Blair replied, her hands shaking below the surface of the pool.

Chuck shifted in the water. Changing his tactic, he began moving closer towards her.

'You can't expect me to believe there's not some part of you,' He murmured the words, closing in on her until her back made contact with the cool tiles. 'However small, that doesn't want just a little taste.'

Blair gulped and shook her head silently.

'Liar.' He smirked. 'I've seen you.'

She folded her arms in front of her chest. His closeness was a threat she could not withstand. 'What exactly is it you think you've seen, Bass? Enlighten me.'

His smirking lips curled into a grin. 'I've seen you looking when you think no one else is. Maybe other people don't, but I do. You're not the person you try so hard to be.'

'I don't know what you're talking about.' She whispered, turning her head to the side so she didn't have to face him.

'Yes, you do.' He disagreed, tucking one, long finger beneath her chin and drawing her face back. 'I've seen it, what lies beneath that prim, proper surface of yours, clawing to break out. You don't have to hide it from me, Blair.'

'You're sick.' She laughed breathily, still trembling.

'Passion isn't a sickness; desire isn't a sickness.' Chuck promised her hotly, his eyes locked intently on hers, refusing to yield.

'Sex isn't the be all and end all of everything, Chuck.'

'Maybe not.' He agreed, tucking a tendril of soaked hair behind her ear. 'But you'd like to know what it's like, wouldn't you?'

'In due course.' Blair retorted, pushing his hand away from her face. 'With the right person.'

He merely snickered and pushed himself away from her, using the edge of the pool as a boost. The water rippled around his body as he floated on his back, looking up at the full moon.

Blair watched him, shuddering while she tried to compose herself. 'Why do you care so much about my sexual awakening anyway?'

'Call me curious- I know potential when I see it.' He called out, still resting on the surface of the water.

Some part of her was delighted by the knowledge that he saw potential in her; some part was horrified by it.

'What's that supposed to mean?' She demanded, swimming out into the middle of the pool where he lay.

With a sigh, Chuck moved from his relaxed position and faced her.

'Look, you know I look out for myself first and Nate second, but you're a close third, and even I can see how unhappy you make each other.'

Blair drew back. He was wrong, he was jealous that his best friend had a happiness he could only imagine.

'That's not true, we're perfectly happy together.'

'Oh yeah? Then why are you here with me and not upstairs together, taking advantage of the empty house?' Chuck challenged her, his gaze flashing with the evils of his questioning.

'I already told you, sex isn't everybody's number one priority. We agreed to take things slow.'

He rolled his eyes at her pronouncedly before disappearing beneath the surface of the water. Blair watched hundreds of bubbles erupt in bursts from his lungs before he slowly rose to the top again, pushing his slick hair from his forehead.

'The things I could tell you.' He winked, but the suggestion in his tone didn't quite land, and instead the statement was quietly sad. 'Don't you want to feel passion, Blair? Don't you want to feel desired?'

Her lips thinned into a grimace and she wrapped her arms around her waist. She couldn't bring herself to lie, the passion between she and Nate had dimmed to a muted ember. It had been that way for a while, but she was positive she could reignite it with time.

'Kiss me.' Chuck stated.

Blair balked, stepping another pace back from him. 'What?'

'Kiss me, let me show you how it should feel.'

'You're ridiculous.' She scoffed, narrowing her eyes at the seriousness she saw on his face.

'No, I'm offering you a once in a lifetime opportunity, well twice if you count our first kiss, to gain some much-needed experience of the world around you, no strings attached.'

'I can't kiss you. Unless it escaped your notice, I'm committed to your best friend.'

Chuck's eyebrows raised. 'Like he'd care.'

That stung her and, before she realised what she was doing, Blair launched a wave of water at Chuck.

After the impact of the crash, his mouth hung open, beads of water dripping from his hair.

Then it was Blair's turn to be doused. She gasped for air, glaring at him. 'Why did you do that?'

'Why did you?'

'Because you were being disgusting!' She cried, accusing him silently with her folded arms and dripping hair.

'I think you're afraid you'd like it too much, and you'd realise how much time you've wasted pining for a boyfriend who doesn't even care to show up.'

'Stop it!' She screamed. 'Stop it.'

Turning where she stood, Blair used all of her might to wade through the depths quickly, ignoring his calls as she hurried up the ladder and out of the pool. She didn't pause to grab her towel, instead storming straight into the house.

She heard him follow her, the force with which he'd slammed the door was unmistakable.

'Blair.' Chuck called out. She did not stop. 'Blair!'

'What?' She shouted, not slowing or looking at him.

'Would you slow down? You're trailing water everywhere, you're lucky I haven't cracked my head open already.'

'Have you considered that maybe that's something I'd like?'

She heard his footsteps then, quicker than her own feet would carry her.

'Stop!' He murmured, having caught up to her at last and gripped hold of her wrist.

They both slowed to a stop in the dim hallway, and she turned to face him. Her shoulders rose and fell sharply with the intake of her breath.

'Why do you say such awful things?' She bleated, avoiding his gaze.

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean it.' His promise sounded earnest, but there was something wrong with it altogether.

'Yes you did.' Blair countered. 'And the worst part is that you were right.'

Blair wasn't sure how much time had passed since she last spoke. She was instead transfixed by the way his eyes had travelled the length of her body. Whether it was the hurt, the wine or just her pride that drove her next actions, she didn't know. All she knew was she wanted to show him, to show herself, just how much it meant to be Blair Waldorf.

'Kiss me.'

'What?'

'You want to kiss me, so kiss me.'

He didn't require any further instruction, closing the space between them almost immediately. Her back slammed against the wall, chlorinated moisture from the pool seeping into the perfect strip of paper that decorated it. It was destroyed beyond repair when Chuck's hands at last rose up to cup her face.

'Do you mean it?'

She nodded, unable to refuse him even if she'd wanted to.

Chuck didn't hesitate, his lips slanted against hers in less than a second, with a fervour she'd never known before. His kiss was ardent, desperate, and she wanted so much more. Sighing against him, Blair opened her lips, her fingers reaching out to slide down the plane of his back. He groaned appreciatively, tucking his hands below her knees.

Before she knew what was happening, he'd lifted her back flush against the wall. Blair curled her legs around his waist, humming into his mouth. His touch, so gentle but needy, made her limbs turn to jelly. She felt herself hanging limply against him and relished in the sensation of his fingers burning white-hot trails up and along the lengths of her thighs and hips.

Murmuring unintelligible affirmations against his mouth, Blair tugged at his hair, gasping when his lips broke from hers to plant hot, open-mouthed kisses against her neck, her collarbone, then her chest. She didn't know when, or how, his fingers had found purchase against the loose tie of her bikini top, but she felt the damp triangles move from their place, exposing her to him in a way she'd never been before to anyone.

'You're so hot.' He husked through kisses against her soft, bare skin. His tongue grazed along the length of her collarbone and slowly down to her breasts.

Blair responded hungrily, grinding her body closer against him. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip.

It was only when she opened her eyes for a moment, saw his head buried below her shoulders - his hair too dark, his skin too fair - that Blair realised exactly what she was doing.

'Stop!' She ordered, barely audible. 'Stop, this isn't right.' Her fingers loosened their grip in his hair and she pushed hard at his shoulders.

Chuck's hands fell from her almost immediately and, breaking all contact with her flushed skin, he eased her down and took two steps back. Watching her scramble for the strings of her bikini in some desperate grasp for modesty, he sighed heavily and silently turned to head further down the hallway, up the stairs and out of sight.

Wrapping her arms around her barely clad body, Blair shuddered at the guilt settling heavily over her. She wiped desperately at her puckered lips, shame weighing on her shoulders. Running her palms across her face, she bit her lip and followed his path upstairs, locking herself in her own bedroom.

The next morning, they barely spoke a word to one another. She'd woken up early to avoid eating breakfast with him, had her things taken to his car by staff and stayed firmly ensconced in her bedroom until the very last moment she feasibly could.

But now, stood by the limo, she couldn't evade his gloating snickers and suggestive whispers.

'You know you liked it.' He taunted.

'Look here, Bass. It was a drunken mistake. One that will never happen again, we both know that.' Blair affirmed, refusing to look at him, her gaze was instead fixed on the car that rolled up towards them. 'I love Nate with all my heart- always have, always will. But what he doesn't know can't hurt him, and I won't be the one to hurt him like that.'

'I won't tell him if you won't.' Chuck jeered, his hand curling around her waist as the taxi door swung open and Nate stepped out.

'Just forget it and shut up, he's coming.' Blair hissed, elbowing Chuck in the ribs before hurtling forward to greet her cheery boyfriend with a chaste kiss as he exited the cab.

'Sorry I'm late,' he mumbled against her mouth. 'I was in the town getting us tickets for the jitney.' Nate flashed her a dopey grin.

'Oh, how charming.' Blair forced a smile. 'And pedestrian.' She added, her teeth clamped together as the ambled towards the long, sleek car parked on the driveway opposite his cab. 'But Chuck's limo is right here, there's no need for us to rub shoulders with the lower classes.'

'I know, I just figured it could be fun to travel just the two of us, we haven't spent a lot of time together this summer.'

Blair winced. Even her guilt about having been so intimately involved with his best friend the previous night wasn't enough to make her sympathetic to Nate's statement. He had been the one to drive the wedge between them, he had been the one to disappear and miss commitments.

'The choice is yours, Blair.' Chuck spoke, opening the car door. 'Tedium or indulgence.'

She wanted to charge up and smack him across the face for his thinly-veilved boast. But, as much as she hated him, and all that he represented, there was truly no good reason to choose public transport over private.

While Nate gathered his bags, Blair's head shot round to Chuck, and she mouthed several expletives.

Then, she turned her gaze to her boyfriend, his sweet, soft features that she loved so dearly.

'Sweetie.' She cooed, stroking the lapel of his blazer. 'Let's just go with Chuck. We can spend time together tonight at my mom's. She's away until the end of next week.'

Nate's lips thinned. 'Uh, I guess. If that's what you want.' He agreed, gesturing towards the door his best friend had held confidently open throughout their entire exchange; he knew her well, best of all perhaps.

AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and it didn't feel a step too far. For me, Chuck and Blair's connection always felt a little too close to me, like a few things had possibly happened between them before their infamous limo moment.

I don't know! Just speculating haha, but yeah, for me a few of those looks they shared, some of their chemistry just spoke to a little more than friendship. Look forward to hearing what you guys think though! :)

P.S. If you're thinking 'hmm, I'm getting deja-vu here', I accidentally deleted this fic and just re-uploaded all of the chapters (don't ask how I did it because idk either). If you're new and haven't got a clue what I'm talking about, then great! Hope you've enjoyed this completely new story :D