AN: Thank you for your lovely reviews, and apologies for the long wait! Also, remember that this is, and will always be, a CB story. Brendon is a blip on the radar, much like everyone else, only with slightly more impact than others. Nevertheless, CB are endgame.

The sun hit her eyelids, and for a moment, Blair could pretend. She could pretend that she was lying in her own bed, its pale blue covers pulled over her petite frame. But a sound next to her, an arm wrapped around her waist, and the hot breath on her ear told her otherwise.

The full force of what she had done hit her like a ton of bricks, and she drew in a sharp breath as she attempted to slip quietly from under the covers. It appeared that even at five am, Brendon was a sound sleeper, his breaths still even as she tiptoed around the room, picking up various articles of clothing.

Unlike with Chuck, who had never let her sneak out in the mornings, Blair had retrieved her garments and was dressed in a matter of minutes. Standing by the door, her eyes caught a folder, the very one she had held the night before. Remembering the document she had looked over the night before, while she had been wrestling with her decision, Blair quickly pulled the page out and set it on top.

He would see it. That much she knew.

...

It wasn't that he did this. Brendon Cooper wasn't some thirty year-old predator who enjoyed seducing his interns and secretaries. Flirting he did, sleeping with them he did not. Melanie had been proof of that-If anything, her advances had disgusted him. He was married, and though Blair Waldorf had proven to be an enigma, he hadn't set out from the beginning to sleep with her. It was wrong.

But when he had woken up to an empty bed, the lingering scent of lavender in the air, Brendon Cooper realized that he didn't care.

He just wanted Blair Waldorf.

...

"Blair."

She cringed at the sound of Melanie's singsong voice, her back stiffening as she turned to face the simpering brunette.

"Liam wants to see you in Mr. Cooper's office," Melanie said with a saccharinely sweet smile, her eyes sweeping over the box at Blair's feet. Pressing her ruby lips into a thin, rigid smile, Blair nodded her head as she brushed past the shorter brunette, whose curls were in a white headband-the very same one Blair had worn a few days ago. Sniffing haughtily, Blair turned her back on the girl, smirking at the thought of Melanie copying her.

The smirk fell away as she reached Brendon's office, memories of that night coming back to her. Her hand closed around the silver doorknob, cold against her fingertips as she told herself she would never have to come back.

This was all just another unfortunate chapter in her life. Like NYU. It could be easily forgotten, easily erased.

"Ah, Blair," Liam said, turning towards her with a smile. Standing by Brendon's desk, he was re-arranging stacks of paper. The same desk Blair had been-"I hear you've resigned."

"It's just an internship," Blair reminded him through gritted teeth. She did not want to explain her reasoning, though many had asked her that day. "Not some highly sought-after job."

"But it's a highly sought-after internship," Liam said persuasively, as if attempting to get her to change her mind once more. "One you see all too willing to give up."

"Yes, well. Certain circumstances have convinced me that I would be better off to leave Cooper Enterprises." Blair spat out, her eyes blazing as Liam continued to eye her with an understanding smile. But from the wicked glint in his eyes, Blair knew that he had heard the rumors as well.

"Nevertheless, Brendon has requested you perform one final task as an intern. You do want a stunning letter of recommendation, do you not?"

Blair was tempted to reply that she was a Waldorf, and therefore would have no trouble getting another internship and countless letters of recommendation. However, she knew that one wrong move and Cooper Enterprises could spoil her future easily. They were simply that big of a corporation.

"Fine," she ground out in frustration. "What do I have to do?"

"Remember the hotel you dropped the documents off at?" Liam asked innocently. "Mr. Cooper's got a meeting in a half hour. He's asked that you attend this meeting. And he's also told me he's not letting you resign till you've talked to him."

Eyeing the assistant with ferocity, Blair gave one curt nod, though her anger was more directed at Brendon than his assistant. "Anything else?"

"No," Liam said. "But Blair, think about what you're doing here. You've got an amazing opportunity in the palm of your hands-and it would be such a waste to let it go."

Grimacing slightly, Blair allowed one small smile before turning on her heel. She knew that Liam was trying to help her-but he wasn't the one about to fall into the arms of a married man. Although...if the rumors were true...Blair shook her head to rid herself of the errant thought, focusing once more on the task at hand.

"What did Liam want?" came Melanie's grating voice, and Blair felt her self-control slipping from her fingers.

"I'm to attend a meeting with Mr. Cooper," she replied calmly, though she had to work to keep her mask of perfection in place. "If you'll excuse me, I must be on my way."

Brushing past a surprised Melanie, Blair allowed herself one small smile of victory as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

...

Chuck Bass sat in his limo, leafing through pictures his PI had sent over to him not ten minutes ago. His harried assistant had thrust the brown envelope at him and rushed off, attempting to manage the calls coming through his Bluetooth.

The sickness made his head swim and he knew that he had never seen anything more revolting. Not at a graduation party where Blair Waldorf had "said uncle" or a wink from a best friend at a Debutante Ball. Because now there was no denying it. The timestamp on the pictures told him that at five in the morning, the girl he had known since birth had run out of the hotel in the same clothes she had worn the previous night. There were other pictures too, pictures of her entering the hotel near eleven pm, a folder clutched in her dainty hand.

There was no denying it.

And sitting outside the same hotel, he had another sickening revelation as the same girl walked briskly up the stairs of the same hotel that just hours before she had vacated.

His stomach threatening to revolt, Chuck checked the time on his watch and decided that being early to the meeting was the best course of action.

But as he walked down the stately hallways, listening to the click-clack of her heels against the marble, the pictures left in his limo returned to assault his subconscious.

Pausing, Chuck attempted to collect himself once more, to forget about what could have happened between them in a hotel late at night. I'm Chuck Bass, he repeated to himself, and by the time he threw the doors of the conference room open, his self-assured demeanor had returned.

It was a jarring experience. He had seen them together before. In a controlled environment, of course, but there was just something too wildly intimate about this now that he couldn't bear. They were standing in the conference room together as the two of their hands brushed together at the transference of a document.

And that was the moment that Chuck Bass legitimately lost it.

It was a small consolation that Blair's clothes were now freshly pressed, and not the outfit that she had worn out earlier that morning. But she was still standing there with the one person that she shouldn't be beside, and he still felt the flames of all consuming rage lick furiously at his insides.

He could hear the sound of his own loafers echo around his ears, if only dimly because Cooper's eyes had flitted to his with condescending amusement.

"Bass."

"Cooper."

Blair's eyes refused to meet his and he was sure that he saw something there that resembled guilt. It was an unwanted emotion, but Chuck could recognize it better than anyone. Because Blair was still Blair. And not even sleeping with a knock-off boss would change that.

Her body was angled away from him and he knew that she considered herself not a part of the antagonistic "conversation." Well, he would make her part of it.

"Hey, Blair," he addressed her silkily, aware of Cooper's tense eyes on them. Blair deigned looking at him for only a second to confirm that she had actually heard him. "Missed you last night."

This time her eyes actually had met him in a sea of confusion along with suspicion marked with anger. She knew Chuck Bass. And her Chuck Bass was always up to no good.

"Excuse me?" she asked delicately.

"Last night," Chuck reiterated. "That's usually when we have our most memorable moments together."

"I don't know if you've had a bout of amnesia," Blair answered coolly, "but there's nothing between us, save for a tentative friendship."

"Oh, I remember that," Chuck answered. "What usually follows that is you breaking up with your boyfriend and many wild excursions in the backseat of my limo."

He was pleased by Cooper's tense stance at this information and Chuck decided the time for social niceties had long since past.

"And by excursions," Chuck informed Cooper with the same condescension as he was greeted with, "I mean after performing a strip tease in my burlesque club, she threw herself at me in the back of my limo, along with the key to her chastity belt."

Seething through barely restrained fury, Blair turned angrily towards Brendon's expression of shock.

"Could you excuse us?" she bit out, and he nodded in acquiescence. Throwing one last pointed glare at Chuck, he walked out of the conference room.

"What do you think you're doing?" she spat out, wheeling to face Chuck. His face was the picture of utter fury, his shoulders clenched as he regarded her.

"Me?" he retorted. "What about you? Sleeping with some Wall Street trash who also happens to be my biggest rival? What kind of game are you playing here?"

The word game hung in the air between them, though they both knew that the current one in play had higher stakes than they'd ever experienced.

"It's not a game," she told him, her voice deadly. "And I don't know when you decided to make it one. Perhaps when you brought along your little French whore?"

"I told you that was a mistake. You were the only-"

"Please," she rolled her eyes. "We both know what went on between you and Eva behind closed doors. According to Gossip Girl-"

"Eva is in the past," he enunciated. "She never meant anything to me-at least nothing compared to you. Don't you see Blair? It's always been you. We're inevitable."

"It was," she relented. "When you finally sent that French stick packing, and became Chuck Bass once more, I thought we had a chance. I thought that maybe I could finally forgive you."

The fury in his eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by an almost indescribable hope that seemed to soften his glare.

"You-thought..." he faltered slightly, completely out of character for Chuck Bass.

"Yes," she sneered. "I did think that. But you've gone too far Chuck."

At her words, the fury seemed to reignite in his eyes, his expression growing dark once more. "I went too far? I'm not the one sleeping with my married boss, Blair."

The glared at each other, for what seemed to be an infinitesimal of time, Chuck's eyes daring-begging-her to contradict him.

Blair leaned closer, a little something like melancholy lighting her eyes.

"So what if I am?" she asked softly.

...

She was sitting too close to him.

Too close.

Chuck ground his teeth, clenching his fist around his pen as Mr. Newark rambled on.

"...both have merit, but your proposal Mr. Bass, is enticing in the least."

"Thank you," Chuck said smoothly, making sure to slip in the slightest of smirks Brendon's way.

But Brendon wasn't watching them, his eyes trained on Blair as she whispered something in his ear.

Chuck felt his chest constrict as Blair's fingers brushed Brendon's arm, and it took all his willpower to stay on his side of the table.

Blair pulled back, her eyes hard as Brendon cleared his throat, turning to Newark.

"Mr. Newark," he began easily. "As I have mentioned earlier before, I do believe that my proposal trumps Mr. Bass'. With all due respect, Mr. Bass," he said in a tone of absolute belittlement. "Your recent handling of the LA situation leaves much to be desired. I do believe myself more capable of handling this hotel, and of course, Mr. Newark, we would do our best to keep you on the board."

"As stated before, gentlemen, I would like to remain on the board."

"Mr. Newark" Chuck cut in easily, his eyes flashing as he glanced over at a smirking Brendon. "Keeping you on the board would be difficult, to say the least. I hope you realize the complications it could cause."

"It is my hotel, no matter who owns it." Mr. Newark reminded him, condescension clear in his voice.

"And we at Cooper Enterprises honor that," Blair jumped in quickly. "We believe in integrity and maintaining an image. Mr. Newark, your hotel would be a perfect fit into our assemblage of hotels around the world. There is diversity at Cooper Enterprises-and each hotel is in its own kind. Unlike with Bass Industries, your hotel will not be sullied by Cooper Enterprises' mistakes, should there be any. It will remain your hotel, but we will supply the funding, so to speak."

Chuck couldn't help the slightly proud smile that graced his features-because he had always known Blair could hold her own in a boardroom.

He just never expected that she'd be against him.

...

"We've been negotiating for over an hour," Mr. Newark said, taking another swig of his water. "Mr. Bass, I'm afraid your position has been looking less and less favorable."

Chuck frowned, knowing that he was slipping. Slipping because Blair had easily thrown him off his game-and as much as he hated to admit it, his inexperience had been alarmingly glaring.

"Mr. Newark," Brendon said firmly. "I am prepared to offer you your asking price, plus ten percent and a confirmed position on the board."

Chuck scrambled to fill the empty space with his counter-offer, but for once in his life, his wit had failed him.

...

"Congratulations," Blair said dryly, picking up her purse and slinging it over her shoulder. Rifling through its contents, she pulled a sheet and thrust it into Brendon's hands.

"It's my resignation letter. I thought it best to give to you in person, to avoid any unnecessary confusion."

And she began to brush past him, wondering at what she had just done-and whether it was the right thing to do.

She had inadvertently brought Chuck Bass down from his high. His young-on-top-of-the-world-CEO high on which he had been since regaining control of Bass Industries.

"Blair," Brendon said.

And she stopped. She didn't know why, didn't understand why, but she stopped and turned to face Brendon once more.

"What happened in there...was incredible."

"Thank you," Blair said stiffly. "But I'm still resigning."

"You can't-"

"I can," Blair spat out. "And I will. What happened between us was wrong. And I can't let it happen again."

"No," Brendon shook his head. "What happened in there was pure genius Blair. I truly believe that you have a future ahead at Cooper Industries. And I would be loath to take that away from you. I couldn't help but admire your-"

"I want nothing more to do with you, or Cooper Industries." Blair said venomously, her eyes flashing. "What happened last night, and what I did in that board room was a mistake. I didn't mean to-"

"To bring down my rival?" Brendon finished. "Well, for that alone, I should thank you Blair. That'll knock Bass off his game for a few months or so."

"This isn't about Chuck!" Blair said, frustrated because it was entirely about Chuck.

"Then what is it about?" Brendon asked, moving closer. Blair's skin started to prickle, and she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stiffen as Acqua di Gio enveloped her entirely.

"You and I," Blair countered evenly. "It's about you and I because what happened was a mistake."

Shaking his head at her repeated words, Brendon only moved closer, until there was barely any space left between them.

"You and I," he enunciated, "could be amazing together. I know you wanted it too. When you were in my hotel room, screaming out my name-"

Blair bit her lip, the guilt eating away at her as she remembered her immediate afterthought the previous night. Leave it to the Basstard to creep into her subconscious when she was in another man's bed.

"-and I'm going out on a limb here, and I don't know what we're doing but..."

Blair didn't know what she had done, sleeping with a married man the night before.

Blair also didn't know what she had done by aiding Brendon's quest to purchase the hotel.

But leaning forward, her eyes meeting his, Blair knew exactly what she was doing.

She was kissing Brendon Cooper, to hell with Chuck Bass and Marina Cooper.

...

Chuck Bass prided himself on being an island to himself. He was indifferent, apathetic, and most of all, had a facade that would not break. No one could crack him.

Eric van der Woodsen, however, had a different experience. He took in his brother's unwonted loose tie and the few buttons of his shirt that had been undone to reveal part of his chest and didn't have to ask. He didn't have to ask why Chuck's abode smelled of scotch and the product in his hair was mussed. These displays of uncoordinated attire were the results of two simple words:

Blair Waldorf.

Eric didn't have to ask. Chuck could be cold and distant but if there was one thing that always reached to his soul, it was one girl that had a nasty hold on him. In all the right ways.

Eric sighed as he walked into the penthouse to see Chuck slumped over the bar. It should have been fortunate that there seemed to be no alcohol around but that only meant that Chuck had drained his stash.

And quite possibly moved to controlled substances.

"The meeting didn't go that well, I take it," Eric inferred, sitting beside the dark older man. Chuck barely had to move his head to compose features that betrayed nothing but disdain.

"There are no words," Chuck answered.

"There were bound to be some mishaps," Eric concluded rationally. "You are the youngest CEO in this industry. Not everyone can be open to your... eccentricities."

"Thank you, little brother," Chuck said in his term of endearment. "But there are literally no words."

"Did something else happen?" Eric pressed, but knowing the real answer.

"You mean did Blair come in off of her inane internship and once again ruin my life?" Chuck sneered. "Why would you think that?"

"Because it's all over Gossip Girl," Eric said with as much nonchalance as he could muster. To his older brother's credit, he didn't betray much surprise or even the slightest annoyance at this news. It was to be expected but as always the ever observant little brother he was, Eric knew there was always something lying beneath the surface.

"So Blair came in and ruined your chances for another hotel owner because you hurt her," Eric shrugged. "You can't say that this is the first time. You know it's like foreplay between the two of you anyway."

"As I keep being reminded," Chuck replied. "But it's different this time."

"No matter what she says, you know how she operates," Eric responded. "She'll get a guy to make you jealous. She'll act repulsed by you. She'll set out to destroy you. But you know it's just a sign of her never-waning affection. If she really didn't care about you anymore, she just wouldn't bother."

"It's different this time," Chuck said with slow evaluation, "because she's not using him to make me jealous. Because she actually wants him."

"Who?" Eric asked. "I didn't hear that she had a new boyfriend."

"I wouldn't call him that," Chuck said, knowing that even though outing her to their society was a viable option, he could never do it. He remembered. The first time they had been together, he had learned his lesson. Humiliation and the destruction of her reputation was not a way to win her affection. Even though Eric was right. Scheming was the way that they showed each other their favor.

"Then what's the problem?"

"I wouldn't be worried if they were actually dating," Chuck said. "This is worse. This is..."

"You," Eric said in realization.

"Excuse me?" Chuck asked, his eyes still slightly glazed from his exploits.

"He's you, isn't he?" Eric asked. "Right down to the paisley tie."

Only someone such as Eric could have come up with something downright logical. That was the real reason of Chuck's animosity towards this person. Not his father's rival but the fact that Chuck hated anyone who resembled him.

Save for Blair.

He loathed Carter Baizen, who drank scotch neat and manipulated his way into the beds of countless debutantes.

His own feral uncle who was dirty and repugnant had the Bass blood running through his veins and a talent for destruction.

And it was suddenly becoming clear that this was just what Blair did in attempt to stave of her impending self-destruction. But it only added to the downward spiral. Men who were dangerous and slick caught her attention. They were the only ones who could ever have a chance in hell at keeping up with her.

And they distracted her like no other.

"That's why you really don't like him."

"And that is the exact reason why I'm going to end him," Chuck said, sitting up straight. Eric was quiet, feeling the repercussions of him bringing this to his brother's attention.

"Is that different from any other week?" Eric questioned.

"This is different," Chuck said. "This is war. This is Black-Ops-Under-the-Radar-No-Holds-Barring-Complete-Destruction. They aren't going to implode on their own this time. They're going to need a little push."

"You sound worried," Eric stated.

"Not at all," Chuck said. "Because this time, I have the upper hand."

He felt the outline of his phone in his pocket, rising a little unsteadily to his feet.

"You never told me who this person is," Eric noted.

"Soon," Chuck announced, "it won't even matter."

It was only in the privacy of his own room did he take out his phone again, where the pictures of that day had been saved by his own hand. Where the nauseating photographic evidence documented the intolerable and inappropriate relationship of Blair Cornelia Waldorf and Chuck Bass' Enemy Number One. He must be a masochist, he mused, as he flipped through the pictures, a scowl of contempt gracing his features. He alighted upon a photo, staring at it in thought, knowing it would be useful later on.

He tucked his phone back into his pocket, the image burned into the back of his mind as he strode over to his desk, the one of Blair and Cooper in a passionate liplock, the one image that made his stomach turn.

The one where Brendon Cooper's identity was completely apparent.

But hers wasn't.

...

"Blair?"

Melanie was standing behind her, fuming as Blair smiled beatifically in return. Melanie had not welcomed Blair's return to the office in the least. The brunette was red-faced, her hands clenched as she was forced to talk to Blair.

"Yes?" she asked, looking up innocently.

"Mr. Cooper wants to see you in his office."

And the jealousy that was so evident in her actions had boiled over, coloring her every expression and every word.

Standing on slightly shaky legs, Blair straightened her skirt and strode off in the direction of Brendon's office.

It had been five days since her return. Five days of sidelong glances over business contracts and stolen kisses behind closed doors. And though they hadn't slept together since that night, she didn't know where they stood-and a small part of her didn't want to know.

Blair Waldorf wasn't quite sure how this story was going to end up. And there was no future between her and Brendon. Only a present that she couldn't quite define.

"Mr. Cooper?" she inquired, stepping inside. Liam gave her the smallest of smiles, and left with a nod to Brendon, whose eyes were on Blair.

"Blair," he said, once the door had closed behind Liam.

Smirking, Blair sat in front of his desk, crossing her legs daintily as Brendon crossed the expanse of space between them.

Leaning down, he kissed her, gently at first, his hand weaving its way through her hair and pulling her towards him.

"Wait-" Blair said, pulling away. "I have to finish a few balance sheets within the hour. I can't do this right now."

Groaning, Brendon pulled away, a smirk on his face. "Well, despite that, I didn't call you in here just for that."

"Then what did you call me in here for?" Blair returned easily, her hand somehow finding its way under his.

"Well," he murmured, tracing circles over her palm with his thumb. "We're going to a conference in Boston this week. Thursday till Saturday. And I do think I'd need your expertise in this."

"Saturday?" Blair frowned slightly, and Brendon frowned slightly in return.

"Why? Do you have any other plans?" And Blair could swear she heard a note of jealousy in his voice.

"Nothing that can't be easily broken," Blair said, her smile back in place. In truth, she did have plans for Saturday night. Plans that involved Bass Industries, a charity donation, a gala dinner, and would most likely culminate in Chuck and her fighting once more. "Did you say we were leaving on Thursday?"

"I'll send a car," Brendon promised, leaning in to kiss her once more.

"I've got to go," Blair reminded him, pulling away.

"By the way," Brendon called out as Blair reached for the doorknob. "Your suite at the hotel is right next door to mine."

Blair smirked, slightly uneasy as she laughed, her hand gripping the doorknob.

"And it's quite possible they are adjoining rooms."

tbc