Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.

I told you all that I would change my mind. As predicted, I couldn't go cold turkey, but I believe I've settled on a compromise. I'll try updating once or twice a week instead of everyday. Let me know what you all think.

If you haven't read 'This Time', this story will make very little sense.

Without further delay. Here you go!

Blair sat in her art history class as she doodled on her notebook as she listened to her professor drone on and on about some fabulously important painter from the Renaissance. To hear her professor tell it, every painter from the Renaissance was fabulously important. It was getting close to finals so Blair knew that she was supposed to be paying attention, but her mind was on something else . . . Chuck.

He'd been distant that morning when he had left for his day at the office. He didn't wake her for their usual quality couple time before he got ready for work. He hadn't even kissed her goodbye when he left the penthouse.

She called him during a break between her classes, but Eugenia said that he was in meetings and couldn't be disturbed. Even Eugenia had asked if everything was okay between her and Chuck because he was in a foul mood. He had apparently snapped at some cheeky remark that she always made when Chuck would walk into his office each morning.

"What's going on with you, Bass," Blair mumbled as she looked down at the doodle she'd been working on. "Blair Waldorf-Bass" the doodle read with an elaborate heart drawn around the words. Even despite her worry, she smiled at the words. It was inevitable. They would get married. They both knew it even though neither of them said the words out loud to each other.

She'd caught him on occasion while flipping through channels pausing a few moments longer on some silly bridal show. An engagement was a ways off, she knew. She told him repeatedly that she didn't even want to think about marriage until after she had started her career. She didn't know if she was using that as an excuse or a crutch because she knew a commitment like marriage terrified him.

He had silently agreed to her terms, although she hadn't figured that out yet. He'd wait until she was settled in her career. What that career was at the moment was a little hazy, but he was confident she would figure it out. She was Blair Waldorf after all.

"Hey, Blair, are you going to join us for drinks tonight?" Riley (a new friend of Blair's) inquired as she caught up with her in the hallway as she made her way to the limo that she knew Chuck would send for her. It was there to pick her up every day after she finished with classes.

Blair didn't stay in her dorm room anymore. It was still there for her to use to study, but she always made sure that she was home at Chuck's penthouse before he would go to bed. She didn't sleep well without Chuck next to her, and she knew it was the same for him.

"Not tonight," Blair shook her head, "I need to go home and yell at my boyfriend."

"What did he do now?" Riley inquired.

"I don't know," she shrugged, "But he yelled at his assistant today for no good reason, and he needs to be punished."

"Good luck with that," Riley laughed as she watched Blair bounce down the steps of the school and into the limo that was waiting right where it always did.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Waldorf," Arthur stated as he held the door open for Blair to get it, "How were your classes today?"

"Same as always," she shrugged, "Thankfully finals are next week, so most of my professors are doing reviews."

"Back to the penthouse?" Arthur inquired as she got into the limo.

"Yes, please," she nodded before he closed the door.

Usually on the drive back to Chuck's penthouse she would begin her schoolwork as the drive could take a while due to New York City traffic, but amazingly enough today she had been given no assignments to work on. She'd already done all of the required reading for the semester in each of her classes, and she was fairly confident that she would do well on her finals the next week even if she didn't spend the weekend studying, which was her plan.

She happened to notice the newspaper that Chuck must have left in the limo during his morning commute. She decided to read the headlines to see what was going on in the world. The business section had her freezing in her tracks. The headline solved her earlier mystery about what was wrong with her boyfriend. "One year later, Bass Industries is thriving!"

Of course! Today was the one year anniversary of his father's death. How could she have forgot?

"Arthur, does Chuck know what today is?" Blair inquired as she rolled down the glass partition to address Chuck's driver.

"Yes, Ms. Waldorf, he does," Arthur nodded solemnly. "He called the florist on the way to the office to have flowers delivered to his parents' graves."

"He didn't go himself?" she inquired.

"He didn't want to," Arthur shook his head.

"Is it too late to swing by his office?" she inquired as she looked at the window to try and determine where they were. There was a certain point during their drive where if they had already reached a certain road that it would take twice as long to get to his office if they turned around.

"About seven streets too late," Arthur replied, "Would you like me to try anyway?"

"No," she sighed as she began dialing Chuck's assistant. "Keep going to the penthouse. I'm going to have Eugenia send him home early. I'll have her arrange for another car to drive him home."

Arthur nodded with a smile as she rolled the window back up. He loved how much Blair cared about his long time boss. He'd been Chuck's driver for more years than he could remember, and it had been apparent that he'd been missing that element in his life for far too long.

"Eugenia, cancel all of Chuck's afternoon meetings and have one of the Bass fleet vehicles drive Chuck home immediately," Blair instructed Eugenia once she answered her call.

"You figured out what was wrong," Eugenia concluded.

"Yes," she confirmed, "It's the one year anniversary of Bart's death. I can't believe I forgot."

"Me either," Eugenia stated as she began typing a note in her calendar to remember for the following year. "He's got a pretty busy schedule today, but I should be able to move things around."

"Thank you," Blair responded gratefully, "Today isn't a good day for him to be around people or the life size portrait of Bart in his office."

"I'll call you as soon as I get him out the door," Eugenia stated as she began frantically working to rearrange her boss's schedule.

"What do you mean all of my afternoon appointments have been cancelled?" Chuck exploded as soon as Eugenia informed him of the rearranged schedule. He'd been locked up in his office for the past hour drinking from his father's private stock while trying to concentrate on the financial statement in front of him. He was a little passed tipsy at the moment but not quite buzzed.

"They've all been reschedule for later this week," Eugenia responded calmly.

"What the hell am I supposed to do for the rest of the day?" he snapped.

"Ms. Waldorf called and said that she was heading to the penthouse and that you should meet her there when you finish for the day," Eugenia stated, "Why don't you leave early for a change? You haven't taken so much as an afternoon off since you took over."

"Blair figured out what today was and had you rearrange my schedule, didn't she," he concluded with a depressed sigh.

He'd been trying to not let her or anyone else remember what the day was. He had been furious when he had opened up the business section of the NY Times to see the featured article headlining the anniversary. He had half a mind to buy the paper and fire the editor for the stunt. If only newspapers weren't such a bad investment these days, he would have.

"She did," Eugenia confirmed.

"While I hate that she's manipulating this, you're probably right, I should go home," Chuck sighed. Eugenia turned to leave his office. "Eugenia," he called out to halter her exit, "I'm sorry about blowing up at you earlier today. It was uncalled for."

"It's okay, Mister Bass, I know it's nothing personal," she assured him. There was a familiar twinkle in her eye, and he couldn't help himself but smirk.

"It's Chuck," he responded playfully, "Can you have a fleet car sent out front? I'm sure that Arthur is nowhere near available to come get me. He should be driving Blair home right about now, and traffic is always a nightmare for them."

"The car is already waiting," she assured him as she unpacked his briefcase before handing it to him. "No work this evening."

"You don't call going home to Blair work?" he teased as he stood up and took the briefcase to follow her out of his office.

"Not tonight," Eugenia chuckled.

"Then you don't really know Blair," he smiled as his assistant walked him to the elevator. "Call Blair and tell her I'm on my way. I should be home in fifteen minutes."

"Blair," Chuck called out solemnly as he stepped off the elevator into his penthouse. The blinds to his entire home had been drawn leaving the place in almost total darkness. The only light was coming from the fireplace in the main sitting room where Blair was laid out on a blanket in a black lace negligee.

"It's about time you got home," she cooed seductively as she watched him empty his pockets after he set his briefcase down on the table, "And make sure your phone is off tonight. No interruptions."

He quickly checked his phone before he sunk to the floor next to her, practically crawling the last few feet he needed to so that he could lay his head in her lap. He'd been fighting his emotions since he stepped out of the fleet limo he'd taken home. Tears began to fall heavily at the realization of what today had meant for him. It was the first time since he'd broken down in her arms after the funeral that he allowed himself to grieve for his father.

Blair didn't say a word as he continued to sob. She just gently caressed his forehead as his emotions played out. Her heart broke at the sight of his pain, but what was there to say really? They both knew how hard this was for him, but he also knew that he was safe with her. She'd never judge him for falling apart.

"I love you, Chuck," she whispered softly as his sobs finally seemed to soften. He turned onto his side so that his face was now buried into her abdomen, the thin lace allowing his heated breath to warm her stomach.

"This is the anniversary of the worst day of my life," he mumbled against the skin of her stomach as he slowly lifted the lace up her skin.

"I know," she responded as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"I never would have gotten through it if you and Nathaniel hadn't been there," he replied, "I would have drunk myself into oblivion."

"I know," she repeated as she closed her eyes to push away the painful thought. He'd been close to the point of no return when she and Nate had found him before the funeral. They had gotten there just in time.

His lips began a gentle path across her stomach. She couldn't hide the soft moan that escaped her lips as his tongue dipped into her belly button. She could have sworn she felt his lips turn into a smile as he continued his gentle assault.

"I needed you so bad that day," he confessed.

"You had me then, and you definitely have me now. I'm not going anywhere," she assured him.

"I needed you that day," he repeated, wanting her to understand exactly what he was saying.

"You could have had me," she responded as she caught his meaning as her eyes closed reflexively as his lips drifted higher up her torso to the underside of her breast, "I wouldn't have denied you."

"I couldn't allow myself to take you that day," he admitted, "As much as my body screamed at me to do so, I could never use you that way."

"I know," she whispered as her hands threaded into his hair, pulling lightly at the roots as his teeth scraped her skin. A hiss escaped from her lips as he sat up suddenly and lifted the thin piece of fabric off her body. She was naked before him other than the scrap of fabric that he generously called panties. What purpose they served other than to get in his way that the inopportune moments was beyond him, they were quickly discarded. "You're wearing too many clothes, Bass."

"We definitely need to fix that," he smirked as he quickly loosened his tie and shrugged out of his suit jacket as her hands went to work on the buttons of his shirt. His clothes quickly began to be thrown behind him as they came off. He desperately needed her, needed her comfort, her passion, her love. He needed all of the things he could never get from Bart.

"Chuck," she moaned as he laid her out on the blanket, hovering over her, his hands supporting his entire weight so their bodies were barely touching.

"What did I do to deserve you?" he groaned as he lowered himself down into her slowly. Her legs quickly wrapped themselves around his hips as she rose up to meet him.

"Whatever it was, Bass, I'm glad you did it," she smirked playfully as her arms wrapped around his shoulders as she pulled him closer. His arms were still supporting most of his upper body so that he wouldn't crush her, only their lower bodies were connected, but she didn't want that. She wanted to feel all of him, every last glorious inch of him against her.

"I love you," he stated as he finally allowed himself to let go as his arms finally caved under the strain. He kept repeating his love for her as they crashed into each other over and over. He would never know how long they lasted, but he did know the he had never lasted as long before. He couldn't get enough of her, and he never wanted it to end.

He felt her peak as he continued to thrust. She began encouraging him to let go, but he couldn't. He continued to push, bringing her quickly to the verge of her second peak.

"Let go, Chuck," she pleaded with him as she forced his eyes to connect with his, her hands tugging at his hair roughly, any harder and he knew he'd have a bald spot, but he didn't care.

He shook his head. "Not yet," he growled as she went flying over the cliff again. She had tears in her eyes now. He knew he wasn't physically hurting her, he never would, but she was in pain nonetheless.

Time continued to pass as he continued his journey. He had no destination in mind other than to keep going. He'd never felt anything quite as raw and passionate as what they were currently sharing.

"Chuck, please," she pleaded as he worked to bring her close to her third peak, "Let go this time, please." Tears were streaming down her face. The pain and the love in her eyes was what he needed as he finally allowed himself to let go with her.

"Are you okay?" he gasped as he felt her breathing return to normal. He was still gasping for air as if he'd run a marathon . . . perhaps this was his equivalent.

"Don't worry about me right now," she replied as she looked at him in concern as she brushed a bead of sweat from his brow, "Focus on yourself. Get your breathing under control. I don't want you having a heart attack on me."

"You're crying," he managed to stammer out.

"I'm okay," she assured him as she pushed the tears off her face before she slapped him in scolding, "Focus, Bass, breath deeper." She began breathing with him, encouraging him to take deeper breathes.

"I'm okay," he mumbled as he finally collapsed against her as his heartbeat finally began slowing.

She wanted to slap him, yell at him, threaten him that if he ever did that again that she'd kill him herself, but she didn't. They would talk about it later, but for now, she knew that he needed rest as his breathing evened out just before he fell asleep. She had just enough strength to roll them over so that he was not crushing her before she fell asleep on top of him as his arms came around her shoulders protectively.

TBC. . .