Why when we do our darkest deeds do we tell?

They burn in our brains, become a living hell

'Cause everybody tells

Everybody tells

~The Pierces, Secret

Six hours into the Sheppard Wedding and things were finally starting to look up. Flanked by a set of brunette twins from Chapin who were practically perched in his lap, Chuck couldn't resist the Cheshire Cat grin that spread across his face.

Eyes hooded, Chuck watched in amusement as the twins shamelessly vied for his favour. Their low-cut dresses showcased their ample assets, leaving almost nothing to the imagination.

Single-sex school girls really were desperate for attention.

"What a truly captivating story, ladies," he remarked huskily, feigning interest as twin no.2 dragged a fingernail across his bottom lip in a manner that he assumed was intended to be sensual.

"You think so?" A girlish giggle.

"Absolutely titillating..."

Unbeknownst to them, Chuck had begun to tune out every word they said upwards of twenty minutes earlier. Not that it mattered. With his reputation, there was next to no chance that the twins seriously believed that he had any interest whatsoever in their conversational prowess.

He was Chuck Bass! He was there for one thing and one thing only; to get in, seal the deal, and make as swift an exit as possible before Arthur even had a chance to curse the late-night Manhattan traffic.

Sipping on a scotch that was at least twice his age, Chuck's gaze shifted from Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumbers' breasts to the scowling face of one of his oldest friends.

The queen bee herself–holding court solo.

Chuck frowned, observing her closely.

Usually clouded in an effortless air of superiority, Blair oozed a cocktail of desperation and despair. Her feelings were hidden just below the surface —likely only decipherable to those well-versed in the art of reading Waldorf subtext.

Lips pursed. Face pale. Martini glass long since drained several times over. Blair sat alone, glaring at the ballroom door like it had personally wronged her.

Surveying the room of business moguls, politicians, socialites and their spawn, Chuck quickly noted that Serena, Nate and even Blair's entourage of minions were nowhere to be found.

It seemed he, Chuck Bass, was the only one left to play the role of decent human being. The thought was almost comical.

He glanced between the twins and Blair for a moment, weighing up his options. Decency versus debauchery? Lending a sympathetic ear to a friend in need versus having a stranger's every filthy thought whispered in his ear? Chuck sighed, his mind already made up.

Only for you, Waldorf.

"Ladies, please excuse me. Something urgent has come up...and not the kind of thing you like."

The Chapin twins' synchronised expressions of outrage were priceless, reaching peak value as they were unceremoniously pushed off his lap. Chuck consoled himself with the knowledge that the girls' speedy transition from smugness to humiliation and offence was probably almost as satisfying as the sex would have been.

Chuck watched as Blair raised one perfectly arched eyebrow in surprise as he approached her.

Having chosen a shimmering silver gown, (probably one of her mother's creations), Blair Waldorf was moonlight itself.

Distant. Enigmatic. Reflective. Unreachable.

"I'm sorry, Waldorf", Chuck began with a lazy smirk, making the split second decsion between getting a smile and a rise out of her (he chose both!). "But looking like that has to be a punishable offence."

Blair threw him a withering look, a look that did nothing to dim the glint of amusement that flickered in her eyes.

She seemed oddly pleased.

Deliberately lewd as it was, Chuck wondered absentmindedly if it had been the first proper compliment Blair had recieved all day.

While Nate was the best friend a guy could ask for, Chuck knew he lacked somewhat in the boyfriend department. Not that the heir to the Bass fortune was an expert in the subject himself...quite the contrary, in fact. But even Chuck knew that girls like Blair Waldorf didn't dream of being pecked on the cheek with a mumbled 'nice dress'.

As Chuck casually plopped down into the chair next to her, Blair reached over to straighten his pewter coloured bowtie– a rare moment of closeness between them.

"Finally tired of being mauled, Bass?" Blair quipped, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she eyed him critically. "Those twins...dishevelled you."

Chuck smirked. "Jealous much?"

Rolling her eyes, Blair couldn't help but let her guard down–just a little. She and Chuck may make a daily habit of tearing shreds out of everyone in their social orbit (each other included from time to time!), but when it mattered most they would never intentionally gun for one another.

Blair's eyes flicked back to the ballroom door for a moment. Chuck may not have been able to read minds, but he could piece together the general gist what was going on in Blair's head.

Although she liked to pretend that she inhabited some fairytale life where her resident Prince Charming wasn't practically salivating at the mouth at the thought of her best friend, Blair Waldorf was no fool. She was sharp and perceptive—that was a large part of why Chuck respected her as much as he did.

Blair knew that Nate and Serena were together. Drunk off their heads. Giggling like children. Not a care in the world.

Chuck followed her line of sight. "I'm guessing that it's not the Tweedles you're jealous of," he teased almost softly, smiling darkly purposefully as Blair shot him a death glare.

He'd hit a nerve.

"Where are Nate and Serena?"

Blair sniffed disdainfully, avoiding eye contact with Chuck. A flicker of sadness crossed her face (gone almost as quick as it appeared), and Chuck knew all too well why.

Even in their earliest shared memories as children running wild during long summers in the Hamptons, Nate had always been just a little too eager to scuttle off after Serena. Chuck hadn't understood it then, and he understood it even less now.

It was just the way things were. Serena would run, Nate would chase after her, Blair would pretend she wasn't crushed and Chuck would remain standing still, watching and waiting for all four of them to spring back together again like segments of the same elastic band.

"They were completely wasted", she replied, just a touch theatric. "I told them to go sober up."

Blair didn't disclose how much time had elapsed since her boyfriend and best friend had left, and Chuck knew better than to ask her. While he enjoyed poking the lioness, he didn't much fancy having his head bitten off in the process.

"Perhaps that was for the best," he agreed. "We don't want to endure Nathaniel's drunken rendition of Climb Every Mountain on the ride home."

At that, Blair couldn't help but crack a genuine smile, a rare sight that despite their usual dynamic of mutual teasing and torturing Chuck found himself wanting to preserve.

"My thoughts exactly, Bass."

Chuck flashed her a grin in return, offering her his hand. "Come on, Waldorf. I think we've overstayed our own amusement at this wedding."

Blair smirked, allowing him to pull her to her feet without hesitation. "That's the understatement of the century."

"What do you say we track down our wayward best friends?"