A/N: Wow. Long time no write. Congrats to those of you who are still reading this. Here's an update! You can now go thank the lovely scarlett2u. She made a shout out to this the other day on twitter and I got the feeling she was inkling to know what happened next. Here you go, Mary. ;)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

Ch.11—One Road Leads To Another

Serena closed her eyes in agony and fell back against the couch. Much to Chuck's surprise she didn't immediately demand they go home.

"We could use the blue pill," she offered.

And there it was.

"No," he said immediately. He straightened in his seat and then leaned forward. "What we need to do is go back to the city and devise a real plan, something that'll actually get us somewhere beyond hiding in the shadows hoping our past selves don't screw up."

She raised her eyebrows but then shook her head. "No, Chuck, let's just stay here for tonight. We can leave in the morning."

"We can't waste any more time," he said, getting slightly impatient. He was desperate to fix the situation, even if he was coming across as completely calm.

She sat up. "And what if we're spotted again tonight? It'll only make things worse with our…younger selves." She sighed and stood up. "Unlike you, at age seventeen, I was actually in a relationship."

His eyebrows narrowed and he shot up. "But my relationship was fragile. It was hardly even considered a relationship," he spat.

She looked at him sympathetically and he turned away from her.

"Ugh. Don't look at me like that."

"Chuck…"

"What's done is done."

Well now she felt horrible.

He sighed. "But…as much as I hate to admit it, you're probably right." He turned to face her again. "We'll leave in the morning."

She nodded.

"I do think I have the beginning of a plan though," he said hesitantly.

Her eyes lit up. "What is it?" she asked, coming closer.

"Well, from previous experience, it obviously isn't a good idea for us to really show our faces in public."

She rolled her eyes and nodded.

"So, as risky as it might be, I think we need to call in for back-up."

Her brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You remember those fake IDs I had made for our SATs?"

"Yeah…" she said warily.

"Well, that wasn't the first time I got fake IDs." A smirk slid onto his features.

"Chuck."

"It's exactly what you're thinking," he said. "We need to go under cover, create new identities for ourselves, and once that is done we can pay people off to…intervene, if you will, when we deem necessary."

She mulled it over, not saying a word until several minutes had passed.

"Well?" Chuck prodded.

"It's a start," she finally said, hesitantly because this was a whole new approach and she could only imagine what Chuck had in mind for her 'new identity'. A red head? Brown eyes? A nose job?

But it was something fresh, something do-able, and it just might work.

He smiled at her response, genuinely smiled, and it made her smile, made her sure that this was the right thing – or at least the best thing they'd come up with yet.

"A good start," he insisted.

She nodded and smiled, then headed for the bed, sufficiently plopping herself down and snuggling into the pillow.

"Yep," she yawned. "Good start." She opened an eye for a moment to see Chuck staring down at her adoringly. "Goodnight, Chuck."

"Goodnight, Serena."

He went to the other bed and slid beneath the covers.

…

She woke up earlier than she would have liked, but truth be told she hadn't gotten much sleep at all and it wouldn't do to keep trying when every attempt was seemingly hopeless. She wrapped her sheer, white robe around her, slipped into her slipper and headed downstairs, set to tell Dorota that she would have no visitors today. She didn't want Chuck or Serena trying to explain themselves to her. She wouldn't be able to stand for it.

Mainly because she was sure she was justified and in the back of her head she thought she might not be.

It was true that knowing Chuck and Serena's past behavior, it was likely they had slept together following the dirty dancing entourage. But there was no confirmation of that. Past proof also showed that Serena had always detested Chuck, even more so now that he might be her future step-brother. And there had been no posts of the two of them together since last night.

Though maybe that didn't mean much seeing as how it was six in the morning and the post had come in around midnight.

"Dorota!" she called out when she reached the bottom of the steps. The normally cheerful and eager maid didn't appear from any of the adjoining rooms.

She frowned.

"Dorota?" she called out again, starting to make her way through the rooms.

To her surprise, she found her maid hunkered in the far corner of one of the rooms, talking into a phone and scribbling down notes on a pad of paper.

At first suspicious, but then amused when her maid quickly hung up and quickly hid the pad behind her, she stood up to greet her mistress.

"Miss Blair! I no know you were up. So early for you."

"What's on that pad, Dorota?" She eyed the curve of her arms hidden behind her plump form.

"N-nothing. Orders for a…a lunch Miss Eleanor planned last week."

She raised her eyebrows. "A lunch?"

She nodded. "Yes, Miss Blair. Very important lunch. For Cotillion. Important people coming."

It dawned on her then that her mother was planning a tea party for much of the elite who were bound to show up at Cotillion with their daughters.

But that wasn't for another week. Maybe two.

She decided not to press it. She could easily steal that pad away from her precious Dorota later if she needed to.

"Well, alright, Dorota. I just came to tell you to make sure I have no visitors today. Not even Serena, or-" she paused almost on a gasp, wondering if her maid had discovered her with Chuck at any point since their affair had started (and was most likely about to end, she thought mournfully). To her knowledge she hadn't, but Dorota had a way to be all-knowing when she wanted to be.

"Just no one," she said quickly, clearing her throat.

"I make you breakfast," her maid said, just as she was leaving the room. Blair waved her off and went back upstairs.

Dorota let out a sigh of relief once her mistress had gone. Some warbling was starting to come from the phone she'd hidden behind her and she brought it back to her ear.

"She no want to see you, Mr. Chuck. She just tell me herself," she insisted, now sure of herself. The first five times he'd called and left messages for Blair, she had been unsure as to whether keep him away. But her mistress's announcement had been loud and clear.

No visitors today. Not even Mr. Chuck, who in all honesty, Dorota had become somewhat fond of. It was true she wasn't exactly sure as to why she'd seen him around so often, but in those moments when he was addressing only her, she felt special. Much to her chagrin, he'd made her blush a few times.

"Dorota, please. There's been a misunderstanding. I have to fix things."

For a moment, she almost reconsidered.

"I sorry, Mr. Chuck. Miss Blair say no visitors today and so there no be visitors today," she said sternly.

He sighed.

"Not even Miss Serena," she assured him, hoping to make him feel better.

He scoffed. "Oh, I'm sure."

Her brows furrowed at his unexpected response.

"Just tell her I called and that I need to talk to her. Okay?"

"I tell her, Mr. Chuck."

"Thank-you."

The phone clicked and she slipped it into her pocket. It was curious that Chuck had called her instead of her mistress, but she guessed the 'misunderstanding' would explain all of that.

Fifteen minutes later, Dorota had Blair's breakfast made it and took it up to her in her bedroom.

"Thank-you, Dorota, you can set it down over there," she said, gesturing to some obscure point on the other side of her room.

Confused, but still as obedient as ever, she set it down on Blair's vanity. She started walking towards her, but stopped when Blair spoke.

"You can go now, Dorota," she said, not even looking at her, but instead examining her freshly painted nails.

"Mr. Chuck call for you, Miss Blair."

Her eyes flashed up to hers. "What? When? On your phone?"

"He say you turn your phone off?" she offered a little hopelessly.

Blair sighed. "I hope you told him I have no intention of speaking to him."

"I told him no visitors today," she assured her.

"I wonder what he's even doing up," she mused. "He never gets up this early."

"He say he up all night." She pulled out the pad she had stuffed in her apron and handed it to her. "He call five times before now."

Blair's eyes widened and she took the pad from her, quickly scanning through the messages. Most of them were open-ended and unclear, but they were all clearly desperate, unless Dorota had misinterpreted his meaning. Which, of course, was very possible. Chuck didn't trouble himself with girls – even if until recently she'd proved to be the exception.

He'd told her he hadn't slept with another girl since their first time. It also had not gone unnoticed by her that he'd offered to take her to Cotillion more than once.

Finally, she snapped herself out of her thoughts.

"Take these, Dorota." She handed the pad back over. "I still don't want to see him." She sighed and leaned back against her pillows, even as her maid eyed her curiously. "And bring me my breakfast."

Her maid nodded and retrieved the breakfast tray. Blair took to popping the grapes in her mouth with a forlorn look on her face.

Dorota was still worried, but it was clear Blair no longer desired her presence, so she left and attended to housework.

…

This woman was going to drive him crazy. Absolutely out of his mind. He shouldn't be like this. He should be able to brush it off. Better yet, he should use the photoshopped picture to get Serena to sleep with him. She was so much like him in her range of sexual partners and the freedom she possessed. Every guy wanted her and every guy wanted to be him. Except for that reason. On top of that, his best friend had gotten her, lost his virginity to her. How the hell was that fair?

But of course he wasn't scheming to use the picture to his advantage. Instead he wanted it to go away as fast as possible. It was ruining everything.

Ever since he'd taken Blair's virginity in the back of his limo, the only girl he'd wanted was her. Once she'd finally allowed for this affair of theirs to start – which he'd honestly been surprised actually happened, even if he knew he'd never give up until she caved – he'd been scared to death something would happen that would ruin it. Most likely something he would do.

And here it was. Like fate was telling him he didn't belong with the likes of Blair Waldorf, that she was too good for him. Because she was. Daily he had to remind himself that he was with her, that she'd decided she wanted to be with him, that she couldn't resist him. Sure it hurt that she didn't want to upgrade their relationship to a more official status, but that would require a lot of trust and faith on her part and a lot of commitment on his part.

He couldn't imagine ever being unfaithful to her, mostly because he was addicted to every part of her, but he didn't want to be held accountable if he was. He didn't want the responsibility of being unable to move around, to be free.

At least that was what he told himself when that playboy voice in his head told him he was totally whipped and that the real Chuck Bass wouldn't be caught dead acting and thinking like he was now.

But he'd been ignoring that voice more and more, especially with his recent revelation that he was in love with Blair. He didn't want to think on that too much, because she wasn't in love with him and for someone that pretended he didn't need love nor did he want it, admitting and believing he was in love with Blair Waldorf was extremely dangerous.

All of his conflicting thoughts didn't mean a thing though if he didn't have Blair anymore. He had to fix this. He had to. He didn't know what kind of sick bastard would do this. Maybe Gossip Girl had – just to taunt him – since she knew he was with Blair? Or maybe it was someone who had it out for Humphrey and Serena. After all, the blast had been directed at them.

His father also wouldn't be pleased about this, but that was an afterthought.

The forefront of his mind was on fixing things with Blair.

And at this very moment, he might very well decide to shift his love to Dorota. The lovely woman had taken Blair out to the park to feed the ducks – and had texted him. With a picture.

His heart beat faster, but he couldn't have gotten out of his room fast enough. Looking as suitable as he could manage under the circumstances, he called for Arthur to bring around the limo. His adrenaline was so high that he was half-tempted to just run to the park, but he knew he wouldn't make it. Not more than a block.

"Central Park," he told the driver quickly once he'd practically torn the door off to get inside the limo. "Quickly."

"Right away, sir," Arthur said calmly, slowly pulling out of the parking spot on the curb.

"Go!" Chuck said, his eyes wide and impatient. He didn't explain himself or keep his piercing stare off his driver's look in the rearview mirror.

"Yes, sir," he said, grateful for the sudden lack of traffic on the road.

…

The green wooden door swung open and a cheerful Rufus Humphrey greeted her.

"Well, hello, Serena. How are you doing?"

She forced a smile. "Great. Is Dan here?"

He nodded. "Ah, yes, he's just in his—" he pointed his thumb back towards the bedroom and Serena brushed past him. "Good…seeing you too," he muttered, closing the door again and glancing at his apparently very distracted daughter curled up on the couch in the living room.

"Dan!" Serena burst through his bedroom door, hopeful to find him sitting on his bed, brooding over the recent Gossip Girl blast or perhaps reading something because by some random occurrence he hadn't seen the blast and she'd be able to explain herself beforehand.

However unlikely that was.

But he wasn't on his bed, or anywhere in the room for that matter. She paled. Had he left? Gone to see Vanessa? Vented to her about his girlfriend's apparent unfaithfulness? Would he fall back in love with her?!

Stop.

She needed to get a hold of herself, stop being so dramatic and take some deep breaths, because the window to the fire escape was open and she knew he'd gone there to escape before.

She swallowed and walked across the room, peeking her head out the window to see if he was there.

"Dan," she sighed in relief.

He turned to look at her and then faced back towards the street.

She swallowed. "It's not what you think…"

"It's not?" he asked doubtfully.

She frowned. "I didn't cheat on you, Dan. I didn't even dance with him. I wasn't even with him last night."

His brows furrowed and he turned back to look at her. "What are you talking about?"

She smiled a little. His voice had softened and he was willing to listen to reason. A wonderful feeling of happiness bubbled up inside her.

He trusted her.

"Am I coming out or are you coming in?" she asked, a soft playfulness in her voice.

Despite the fact that she hadn't fully explained herself yet, he felt confident in the fact that she hadn't cheated and the gossip girl blast was just a mistake, a photo manipulation somehow. So, he smiled some at just how cute she was. He stood up and walked over to her, holding out his hand.

She bit her bottom lip and her eyes twinkled. She took his hand and let him help her out onto the fire escape.

Once they were settled sitting out on the fire escape, she turned to look at him, and expectantly he looked at her, ever patient, ever understanding.

"I wasn't with him last night, Dan."

"Well, you weren't with me," he reasoned. "And…you weren't at home. I checked."

She looked at him and smiled slightly. "You checked?" She nudged his shoulder.

He nodded. "Yeah…I hadn't heard from you in awhile," he said, moving past his initial smile driven on by her cuteness. He grew serious. "You've been distant." He paused and then decided on it. "Blair even came up to me at school yesterday because she said she hadn't seen you lately."

Her lips parted and she turned away briefly. Clearly all her running around trying to make sure Blair's secret stayed intact had taken away the brain cells in order to plan for these sorts of things.

"Okay, I was with Nate," she finally said.

"Okay…" he drew out. He wouldn't get jealous. He wouldn't. Sure Nate and Serena had been best friends for forever, and they'd slept together while he was still dating Blair, her best friend, but that was over now. Serena was with him, not golden boy, Nate Archibald – even if he was single again.

"Nothing happened," she said quickly. "Not in the way you think." She sighed. "He's just…he's having trouble with some things, and I was trying to help him forget about them."

Dan rolled his eyes and looked away. "You're right. That doesn't make me feel nervous at all."

The sarcasm made her stomach clench.

"It's for Blair," she said.

He turned back to her, now confused.

"For Blair?"

She nodded. "Yes…" she sighed. "Do you trust me?"

He swallowed. "I'm trying to."

"Dan." She grabbed his hands and held them tightly. "I'm not cheating on you. When I slept with Nate before…" she closed her eyes briefly. "I was drunk and it didn't mean a thing. There's nothing I regret more. It tore everyone I loved apart. I wouldn't do that to you."

"Okay."

"This is about Blair," she continued. "I can't tell you how it's connected because it has to do with a secret she has that only I know about, and as her best friend I can't even tell you. But please, don't for a second think I'm involved with anyone but you. I don't know where that picture came from, but it's a lie. I haven't been upstate in months."

He blinked, realizing that had been a part of the blast. Somehow that made him feel better. He sighed in relief and offered another tiny smile.

"Well, I obviously don't like the fact that you can't tell me the one thing that would put me totally at ease, but I trust you. If you say you weren't with Chuck last night and that nothing is going on between you and Nate, I believe you."

She smiled softly and leaned in, whispering against his lips. "Nothing's going on between them. Or-at least, not with me involved. Chuck and Nate have been best friends for a long time, so…I guess anything's possible," she joked.

He laughed, intertwined his fingers in her hair, pulled her close and kissed her.

"So that must be what's going on between you and Blair," he concluded.

She pulled back briefly, her eyes still sparkling. "Of course!"she giggled and kissed him again.

…

"Blair."

The brunette spun around at the sound of his voice and instantly backed up.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed, then turning to Dorota and giving her a scorching glare.

"Dorota said you'd be here."

"I told her-"

"You said you didn't want any visitors. I just happened to run into you at the park."

Her mouth opened and then closed in a tight scowl as her eyes narrowed.

"I have nothing to say to you, Chuck Bass," she finally said, returning to her bag of bread for more scraps.

"Maybe not, but I have something to say to you," he said, following her.

"I honestly don't care if you hooked up with Serena," she said before he could defend himself. "I mean, she is my best friend and in a relationship, but you and I aren't exactly exclusive, so it's not like I can really be upset about it," she said nonchalantly.

"That's why you don't want any visitors? Because you're not upset about it?"

Angrily she shredded the bread and threw it bit by bit into the pond.

"I didn't sleep with her, Blair," he insisted.

She scoffed. "Please."

"I didn't!" He grabbed her arm and turned her toward him. "That photo is a fake. I didn't dance with her either, and certainly not like that." He scrunched up his nose.

A light bulb went on in her head. It had nothing to do with Chuck's denial of the incident or of the legitimacy of the photo. It was that he'd reminded her of the very thing she should've taken into consideration to begin with.

Chuck Bass hated dirty dancing. He found grinding detestable. And no matter how hot the girl was or how much he wanted to get into her pants, he wouldn't risk what he thought was a total abomination of nature.

"You didn't," she said, relief clearly seeping into her voice.

He relaxed some. "No."

"Because you hate dirty dancing," she said, practically gushing now.

He was beyond relieved by her sudden acceptance. "I do." He nodded, starting to smile. He wanted to kiss her badly, but he couldn't. Not here. Not in public.

And then just like that, she frowned again and she was clearly angry.

"What?" he asked, trying not to let the desperation bleed through.

"Where have you been all week then?"

He tilted his head in confusion.

"I've hardly seen you all week." She pushed at him, so there would be more distance between them. "I thought you'd gotten sick of me. The least you could've done was to tell me you were done with this whole…arrangement between us."

"Blair…" He shook his head. "I am far from sick of you."

"If you were bored, all you had to do was say so," she said sharply.

"I'm not sick of you," he almost laughed.

She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms across her chest, unconvinced, even if he'd just spent every moment since his arrival trying to dissuade her from believing that photo of him and Serena.

"I have been with Serena this week," he said. Her jaw clenched. "But it's not what you think. I haven't slept with a single girl since you and I got together." He took steps towards her until he was barely a foot away. "I haven't wanted to."

There they were. Those butterflies again. She couldn't shake them off if she tried, and she was absolutely convinced he'd given them to her. They were obviously a contagion.

She sighed dramatically. "Well then what were you doing with her?" she said, trying to act unaffected, but he could see through her. He smirked before continuing his explanation.

"Apparently Nate has gotten suspicious."

Her eyes widened and she looked at him. "What?" she whispered on a squeak.

He nodded seriously and then sighed, realizing he'd have to tell her about the incident earlier in the week.

"He crashed with me earlier in the week and I found him looking through my phone when I woke up. He found…our texts."

Her eyes widened. "Sexts, you mean."

He nodded. "Exactly."

She swallowed, trying to ward off the fear making her sick.

"I tried to wave him off and insist it was some other Blair, since the last name doesn't come up on the phone I have now. But, however convinced he was when I sold the line to him, apparently it didn't last. He went to Serena later and told her he thought you and I were sleeping together."

Her eyes widened further and she swallowed again.

"So…all this time…"

"I've been trying to make myself scarce. Nathaniel isn't super observant, but if he's looking for something he is, and I figured now that he's got this idea in his head, he just might start noticing the fact that you and I both disappear every day during lunch."

Her face flushed briefly. She couldn't even look at him.

"Right," she cleared her throat, hoping she wouldn't squeak again.

He smirked.

"I have missed that though…." He leaned in and murmured.

To put some space between them so she didn't attack him right there, she looked up and took a step back.

"What else?" she asked. "What does Serena have to do with this?"

Reluctantly he returned to the serious part of the situation. "I've been meeting with her to get a head's up on just what Nate knows – or thinks he knows – and then how I should go about acting based on that."

Her jaw dropped, realization dawning again. "So that's what S has been up to all week? Trying to keep the peace and the secrets between you and Nate?"

He nodded.

She laughed. "That poor girl." Her face then shifted again, just like before, almost instantaneously. She smacked him. "Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.

"Hey." He stepped away to avoid any further abuse. "I wanted to. I just didn't want you to panic, and you know…run off."

Her face smoothed over. "You didn't want to scare me off?"

"No," he grumbled, straightening his jacket and now supremely annoyed that she'd made him open up about his feelings in public. Again.

She smiled at her scowling bad boy lover, her butterflies fluttering wildly again.

He sighed. "There's one more thing."

Her eyebrows furrowed.

"And this might scare you off."

"What?" she asked, suddenly tensed.

He took his phone out of his pocket, found the text message and showed it to her. He held his breath, waiting for her response.

"She knows, Blair."

She looked up at him with wide eyes, her bottom lip trembling.

"You mean?" She swallowed.

"I think she knows about us."

"But…" her brows furrowed. "Wouldn't she have said something about that on the blast then?"

"I don't know. That confused me too. This could be a fake number I suppose…"

Her head was spinning but she was sure of one thing. She handed the phone back to him.

He looked up at her.

"I'm not going anywhere, Chuck," she said softly. "And from what I hear, you're very good at tracing numbers." Her eyes sparkled mischievously.

He smiled a little, joining in their already planning scheme. She was opening so many doors for him all at once. It was crazy to think of having a 'better half' when you never intended to believe in a soul mate, let alone find yours. But she was his. He was sure of it. She had to be. Nothing else made sense.

"As scary as it is being with the infamous Chuck Bass…there's nothing I want more right now."

He sighed again, now completely relieved and incredibly happy. He closed the distance between them.

"God, Blair-"

She put her hand on his chest, stopping him.

"We can't," she said quickly, barely able to breathe just by the feel of him, already fantasizing about their make-up sex. "Not here."

His eyes were so lust-filled that if she hadn't been trying to think about the repercussions of giving in, she would have let him take her right there on the grass.

"My limo?" he asked huskily.

She groaned. "Oh, I'd love that," she whimpered.

"But?" he whispered seductively into her ear.

"We can't be seen leaving together. And what about poor Dorota?"

He lifted his head to look at the maid and smirked. Blair turned to see what the amusement was and realized her precious maid had been staring at them the whole time and just now looked away back to the ducks, who were now gone, with all the bread they'd brought.

Chuck chuckled. "I can't wait," he whispered hotly against her neck.

With all the willpower she could muster she pushed him away forcefully.

He managed to pout.

"One of us has to be strong here," she said, her voice rising. Her resistance was wavering intensely.

"Dorota!" she called out to her maid, who immediately had her rapt attention. "We're going home," she said loudly, grabbing the empty bags of bread and tossing them into a nearby trashcan. "I have a visitor coming over," she said casually, lowering her voice as she passed Chuck. Somehow she managed no squeak in her voice. They shared a seductive smile before both looking away and walking in opposite directions.

"Thank-you, Dorota," Chuck said, winking at the maid before turning to leave the park. "I couldn't have done this without you."

She blushed fiercely and quickly went after her mistress.

…

A/N: S1 DS finally made an appearance! Lol You know…I think I really like this chap. ;) Please review!