A/N: This was originally a one-shot, so as an experimental story and for my curiosity, it's continued. Not a normal romance, a love triangle at that, one that will be filled with quite a dramatic ride, but then, that is Gossip Girl for you. Thank you all for the reviews.

Nothing explicit, but it has mature themes. Please excuse any small errors.

V-2

While kissing the lipless.

-x-

They had come down from their clandestine little affair. Both parties acquiescing to their personal desires, however, Vanessa wasn't about to let her guard down whenever it came to Chuck. He had somehow done it again, intrigued her enough to slip underneath the covers with him once more, to make her forget that what they had been doing was anything but right. It was a long day, long afternoon, long night. Hours upon hours spent in the bedroom, being touched in places she hadn't even known could drive her wild. Fully giving into her feelings of loneliness, the rumble and tumble went on till nightfall, both extremely exhausted.

He had kissed her before finishing up their love-making. If one would call a rough and dysfunctional relationship—both playing cat and mouse with each other—love. Sometimes, Chuck would plant a kiss on her lips with a hidden tenderness she was surprised at. It startled her, but nevertheless, it was probably due to the fact that he liked to use any manipulative means to get her guard down, even in bed.

She could never know what he felt, only know that he enjoyed it. She couldn't lie, as disgusted as she felt with herself at the moment, she had enjoyed it immensely as well.

In the darkness, Chuck moved around to find a light—turning on the panoramic three dimensional wide screen TV that stood perched on his wall. Vanessa looked up from the floor and realized somehow, they had ended up on the carpeted floor of his elegant room.

Chuck shrugged into his pants, still shirtless, revealing his semi-toned body. She tried to avert her eyes, but she couldn't help but stare at his physique. Clearing his throat, Chuck watched as she brought herself out of her blatant staring, removing her fully naked self up from the floor in what seemed like shame.

Looking up, she saw how he was able to see everything—the swell of her breasts, the flat toned stomach, the long caramel legs, silk smoothness of her skin. For once, she hadn't freaked out, moving to find articles of her clothing thrown carelessly throughout the room with slow, methodical steps. Shimming into her purple dress for the fourth time, she was glad to say that at least this time she would keep it on, before turning to his vanity and staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her face seemed to look exhausted, though, to her dismay, with a faint healthy glow. The curly strands on her head wild and untamed, as if she had just come from the jungle. Make-up from the night before was smudged beneath her eyes, and she mentally noted that she had indeed looked like a hooker at the moment before turning around to see him before her once more.

In the dim light of the room, Chuck's eyes were predatory, as if he would take her again, and she breathed heavily just from thinking about what they had gone through. Her traitorous body had acted as if had belonged to him—it had acted as if she had been his for those passionate moments. She knew better than that, however. Vanessa was not foolish enough to fall for a guy like Chuck Bass. In fact, she abhorred everything he stood for. Planning elaborate schemes to get his way; treating people that were less unfortunate them him as if they were nothing but rodents; using people to achieve his own goals and means, whether the price be their body or soul. Though, she had to wonder ever since seeing him stand up to his father to help with her bar, was there really a heart etched somewhere within Chuck Bass' solid wall? And if so, how did one actually find themselves a part of that?

Maybe that was why she had stood around a little longer, despite what he was.

Opening his phone, he starred incredulously at a picture of Nate and Blair sharing a kiss near a pond at Central Park. Arched brow raised, Vanessa kept her eyes on him while she put on her high heels, intrigued by what exactly could cause such a distressed look to mar his handsome face. "You're going to have to postpone that vacation of yours. I promise it'll be worth your while."

He said silkily, his eyes scanned her, watching her expression. Then as quickly as he addressed the issue with that order, he returned to the picture on the phone, before closing it shut.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She asked, challenging him. He had some nerve demanding something out of her as if he was her owner.

He sighted lowly. "Hmmm. I see." After a moment, he said. "Alright, I suppose while you're taking the day off, you can get yourself cleaned up and recover from the day's... activities." He handed her his phone, and her brows furrowed at the sight of the pixel picture, much like him. Looking up at him, Vanessa placed the phone back in his palm, her heels click-clicking as she walked past him angrily to retrieve the remainder of her stuff so that she could just leave and finally end the nightmare. "Are you just going to give up that easily?

Vanessa narrowed her eyes slightly. Chuck always had another ulterior motive, which suited his needs. Even when the plans change, he always made sure he could benefit from it. One of his charms, she thought with sarcasm.

"Give up on what, Chuck?" she started, annoyed. "We already tried to act as if we were together, but they could care less. They're still together. It's already over, we lost."

The sound of ice clinked in the hushed silence of the room; she looked at him with the same languid look he was giving her earlier. He gestured to the small bar; he had turned on the small row of overhead lights underneath the marble-black lacquered mini-bar which held small glasses and a couple of expensive brands of alcohol. Pouring some scotch into a class, he took a deep gulp of it, before asking, "Would you like some?"

Vanessa thought about it for a moment. "I guess a glass wouldn't hurt."

"Help yourself. This small little detour would serve to benefit you as well."

Chuck's business-like tone somewhat rankled Vanessa, but who was she to criticize since she felt absolutely nothing for him; gratitude she could understand, but nothing more.

Walking to the bar with languid moves, she poured herself a glass of some expensive cognac, added a chunk of ice in and stirred the contents. "So, what are you planning to do this time?" She asked, her voice sounding as if she were uninterested.

"You'll be happy with it. We'll act as a couple, of course. This time more authentic, to the point of which it'll seem as if we're also best friends."

"So, you want to make it seem as if we suddenly fell head over heels for each other? That sounds smart." Her voice was laced with sarcasm at the last bit.

"I'm much better at this than you, Abrams. So please, don't try to insult me," he replied, smiling that cocky smile of his. "Of course, I suppose you didn't hear me when I said we'll make it more authentic. In case you didn't understand, the definition of the word means genuine or real. We'll ease into our 'relationship', take it slow, but still make it known all the same that we're an item."

Vanessa half closed her eyes and took a sip. Figures. The need to roll her eyes heavenward was great, but her face remained impassive.

"You never fail to get underneath someone's skin, do you?" She said with a bit of acid.

Chuck picked up the empty glass Vanessa had used earlier. "Granted, I think you already know the answer to that question."

She could hardly contain her pessimism of the whole affair.

"So, what you basically want to do is make them jealous all over again." Vanessa nearly rolled her eyes. "Why does it matter so much to you? I thought that you had given up on Blair. That she wasn't the girl you had liked anymore. If you really cared for her, you wouldn't try to mess up her relationship."

"And what about you?" He asked, watching her carefully.

"What about me?" She had retorted, eager to hear what it was he was going to say this time.

He had donned on his dark silk shirt, his attention on pouring another glass of scotch. Leaning back, he sat on the chair, staring at Vanessa with that horrible grin that she had despised. "You're acting again, but the truth is if you had felt that way from the beginning, you wouldn't have even bothered to team up with me. You wouldn't have wasted your time and ended up in my bed."

Vanessa clenched her jaw tight, tired of his crazy accusations. "So, I was hurt, okay that's fine. Probably a bit vindictive too, but still, I'm nothing like you. I cared about Nate a lot. I hated the way things ended and I hated that when he got his family back he had forgotten about me, but now it just doesn't seem worth it anymore, Chuck. I'm not the kind of person that willingly hurts people and I'll never be."

Putting on her coat, she hurried over to make her exit when she felt him grab her by the arm with such a possessiveness, it nearly blew her mind away. "Chuck, what th—" He had pushed her body against his roughly, before covering her full lips with his own to silence her.

As soon as her tongue had started dancing with his, he felt his lips turn up in a smile against hers. Her lips were full and moist; and he held her tighter in his arms, while she let out a small moan. Chuck slowly parted his lips from hers, his smile still lingering on his face and spreading even wider with each passing second as he went downward towards her neck once again, hoping that she wouldn't push him away. And she hadn't. Instead, she bit her lip softly, her chest was moving up and down in heavy breaths, and she gasped as his hands gripped her left breast through the fabric of her deep-purple dress.

"I don't want to hurt anybody, Vanessa," He spoke in between the kisses that he placed on her mocha tasting neck, and breast fondling.

Even after he said it again, he never stopped kissing her neck or stroking her pert breasts, which made her lean more forward to oblige. However, despite that fact, there was still apart of her that was telling her not to do it. Maybe it was her stubbornness, or maybe it was the fact that she knew what this would lead to but the feel of his hands touching her and his lips kissing hers felt so good—

It was like they played the Cootie Game with each other sometimes. Don't touch or you will become infected. Cross your fingers and the other can't touch you, can't affect you. Even so, Vanessa had never been the type to play catch with someone for long, and Chuck had always been the type who would do anything to get what he wanted. The two revolved round each other—crossing their fingers and running away from the person in front of them, hoping one didn't catch up to the other and start something they knew could quickly end the game of safe-distance—begin something that could quickly consume them both. But, like the first time, there had been times when they relented, when they ignored the need not to.

Chuck was just about to pull off her jacket when she stopped him suddenly, removing his lips from her neck. Vanessa licked her lips hesitantly as she stood up to say, "I'm sorry, but I can't do something like this."

She turned her back to him once more, her high-heeled feet click-clicking as she hurriedly made her way to the elevator. Just as it arrived and she was about to walk in, he followed in behind her, causing her to look at him incredulously as he stood calmly at her side. "What the hell, Chuck?"

He looked at her, brown eyes sparkling mischievously. "What was that? I don't understand Ebonics."

Vanessa sighed loudly, trying to keep her cool. "That wasn't ebonics, asshole. That was me asking you what the hell are you doing following me? I told you no. Do you know the meaning of the word?"

"Of course I do," Chuck nodded, fixing himself up just a little bit more. He hadn't even looked at her when he said it. "I just don't usually hear it."

"I'm so tired of you spoiled brats thinking that the world is yours." She exclaimed, wondering what was taking the elevator so long to get down to the lobby so that she could just rid herself of his presence already. Holding her purse with a massive grip and tapping her heels in an effort to keep calm, Vanessa kept her lips pursed in a frown. She was aware of the fact that she looked like a sloppy mess; it didn't help that she could still smell the sex on her body, and if felt thick, as if it became another layer to her skin.

"You know, usually girls who act the way you are this moment," Chuck began, almost laughing at her absurd behavior. "hold a crush for the person they pretend to harbor ill-will towards." In the background, he heard Vanessa taking a very deep breath and this time, he let out a little chuckle at the action. "Especially after they've slept with them."

"Wrong again. I have never had a crush on you, Chuck. Ever." She replied, turning to look him straight in the eyes. "I've never even liked you as a person."

The elevator stopped a moment later, the doors opening and he watched as she walked out, her footsteps incredibly hurried. But one could only go so fast with a pair of thin-high heeled shoes.

Chuck easily caught up to her, walking by her side just because he knew that it would annoy her. It was dark out, the city of Manhattan bustling with life and bright lights. Cars honked, people chattered away, police sirens formed in the background—New York City, there was no other place like it.

"You know what they say, Abrams," he had went on, continuing their conversation. "never say never. You wouldn't want those words of yours to come back and bite you in your supple bottom."

Vanessa rolled her eyes, suddenly stopping short. "Only you would say something like that, Chuck. You should know now, your slick words don't work on me and since you seem to be keen on throwing in front of my face that we slept together, I want to make one thing clear: you more than anybody know that you don't need to like someone to fuck them. Haven't you done almost half in the tri-state area?"

"Someone sounds bitter."

"Jesus, you just don't get it do you?" She shook her head, worn out and annoyed beyond believe. "Just, please, leave me alone Chuck. That's all I'm asking. I'm not your type of girl... and I'm definitely not going to be apart of your schemes. You want Blair back, then go ahead and tell her. Just... leave me out of it."

Vanessa walked away, leaving him standing there, into the one place she was sure he wouldn't follow her—the train station. She didn't need to look behind her to know that he had stopped at the front of the stairs. Getting aboard, she sat down in silence before picking taking her black ipod out of her purse and plugging it into her ears. As soon as the sounds of 'Zero' by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs boomed in her ears, she let out a deep sigh and leaned forward to bury her face in her hands.

What the fuck had she been thinking?

Why hadn't she listened to the little angel voice that lingered on her shoulder?

Vanessa couldn't say she felt like crying—to her that was just preposterous. She wasn't that needy, thank god. Still, she couldn't ignore the fact that she had decided to get involved with Chuck Bass more than she would've liked. Or the fact that that picture of Blair and Nate solidified everything that she already knew; her and Nate had been something that just happened. They hadn't been meant to be.

Still, their time together had been wonderful while it lasted.

When it had finally been time to get off of the train, she walked hurriedly to her loft. Unlocking the door to her home, she threw her keys and purse absently on the floor before immediately slipping out of her clothes and rushing into the shower. Never before had she scrubbed her skin as harshly as she did then, ignoring the burning sting of the hot water as she washed herself mechanically. She had been extra hard on the places of which he had given extra attention to, as if she could scrub the memories away. By the time she had gotten out of the bathroom her caramel skin had been pink from the harsh scrubbing and a little raw.

Towel wrapped around her, she moved with light feet to her kitchen and poured herself a glass of red wine that her sister had usually kept around whenever she found the time to come home. Vanessa turned off the lights and sat beside the large window sill of her apartment over-looking the city down below. Droplets of water still fell down her skin, her usually curly hair freshly washed and wet, clinging endlessly to her neck and back. She looked down at the city three-stories below watching as random people moved, kissed, argued or held hands, shaking her left hand slowly and the contents of the liquor in her cup swirled in response.

For how long had she stood in this trance, Vanessa wouldn't be able to recall.

However, the sound of her phone going off had been what had gotten her out of it.

Standing up, she walked to where she had thrown her belongings without a care hours before. Reaching up into her purse and taking out her cell phone, she let out a deep sigh before opening the flap only to reveal a…

….message from Chuck Bass?

It read: If you change you're mind, you know where to find me. p.s. I'm not keen on making promises and then breaking them for petty reasons, you'll get what we agreed on.

Vanessa stared at the phone incredulously. What she had wanted to know was how had he gotten her number in the first place, but reading a text message like that, how could she think of that. For whatever reason, he was still going to help her with the bar. She wondered why that was? Then she remembered, she had paid him in full with her body, it had been the least he could do. Another voice in her head told her that this hadn't been the case, of course.

Exhausted, she turned off her phone and decided to call it a night. When she jumped into her bed and closed her eyes, all she could see is what they had done and how she had moaned and groaned like some sort of animalistic horn dog. Certainly, he had been quite good in his craft. Vanessa shook her head free of the thoughts, curling herself into a ball with her thoughts racing a mile a minute before she finally fell off into a deep slumber.