Summary: "No matter what we do and how much we fight, it'll always pull us in" - Blair Waldorf. Once soulmates meet, their destiny together is inevitable. A collection of one-shots featuring Chuck and Blair's unforgettable story of becoming friends and falling in love from their childhood days, to their high school days, and to their married life.

Setting: Junior year high school

Disclaimer: Gossip Girl characters don't belong to me.

A/N: Thank you, thank you everyone who left a review, especially those who kept on pushing me. It really makes me feel like people want to read these. Keep it coming! Thanks to everyone also for subscribing, favoriting, and following this even though I went AWOL.

Blair Waldorf slowly walked down the cobblestones that paved a long, winding path around the Central Park pond. She hugged her red pea coat more tightly around her body shivering from the chilly night weather. Her loose brown curls swirled around a downcast face as a light breeze passed.

It was late. Well, late enough that she knew herself that she shouldn't be walking around Central Park alone. But her thoughts and emotions were too muddled to really care about her safety right now. All she wanted right now was to temporarily escape from the city that just never ceased to remind her of her tumultuous life. Of course, Central Park was part of the city but it offered the tranquility that couldn't be found among the constant loud noise and rushing about.

She finally approached the bridge and placed her gloved hands on the rails. She took a deep breath of the refreshing air and closed her eyes. Tonight she would forget about Nate and Serena. Instead, she was going to feed the ducks, a childhood pastime she had not given up throughout the years. Feeding ducks in her teenage years reminded her of pleasant childhood memories of going to Central Park with Dorota or her dad. And that was what she needed now – to indulge in pleasant memories instead of the emotional turmoil she was going through.

As she reached down her purse to pull out the small loaf of bread she brought along….

"Well, well, Waldorf by herself late at night. And not to mention, on a school night too..," said an all-too-familiar drawling voice behind her.

Blair turned around, knowing already who the voice belonged to. It was hard not to figure out who had that drawling voice and, as she imagined, an accompanying smirk. All the same, being caught in her sanctuary by him made her catch her breath.

Trying to hide her fear of getting caught, she looked at him and asked irritably, "Chuck, what are you doing here?"

Chuck ignored her question and just continued to smirk. "You know Waldorf, if you were just looking for some danger and fun, you could've just asked me. I would have gladly provided that service for you."

Blair rolled her eyes. "Well, you can do me a service by telling me why you're stalking me. Aren't you supposed to be out with some skank you picked up at the bar or doing something illegal?"

Chuck shrugged at her implications and said, "I couldn't resist finding out what you wanted when you sent me a text saying 'I'm going to be at Central Park just for a while'."

"What?! No, I definitely didn't-" defied Blair quickly as she pulled out her phone to disprove him. As she scrolled through her list of recently sent texts, the most recent text said "to Chuck Bass: I'm going to be at Central Park just for a while."

She groaned loudly when she realized her mistake. "That text was meant for Dorota, not you. Now leave!" With that, she turned back around.

Most people would quickly scamper if the Queen of Constance ever gave them such an order but not Chuck Bass. He respected Blair but he wasn't afraid of her like other people. If anything, they were the same mind in different bodies. He was probably the only one that could handle her.

Chuck walked towards her and stood next to her. "You know what? I don't think I will. What kind of guy would I be if I left a girl alone at Central Park at night?"

Although she could sense that he was purposely trying to irk her, she looked at him and gave him a funny look. "Since when did Chuck Bass ever care what happened to a girl?"

She got him there. Chuck gritted his teeth. "I don't…I never cared about a girl before. Remember, I'm Chuck Bass?"

That was mostly true. There may be one exception but it was impossible not to feel some sort of attraction towards this one girl.

"I know. So why are you still standing here?" pushed Blair impatiently. She just wanted him to leave already so she could do her thing.

"I'm curious to see what you're doing, or planning to do. Is that a crime?" asked Chuck.

"Fine, if you insist on staying, then watch for all I care!" said Blair in much frustration. So much for that peace of mind she wanted.

She took out her loaf of bread and began to rip the bread into small pieces. Lightly, she threw one piece at a time into the river. Between every few pieces, she waited a while.

Chuck watched all this in confusion. This was by far the strangest pastime he saw….

When the ducks approached the bread bits, Blair smiled and remarked, "Oh look! They came!"

She turned her head to look at Chuck's reaction and laughed when she saw his totally perplexed expression.

Ripping a chunk of her bread, she handed it to him and said, "Here, try it."

Chuck took his bread hesitantly and said slowly, "Uh, sure…"

He had no idea why he took it but he started following what Blair was doing. Blair laughed again as she watched Chuck feed the ducks. Seeing the bad boy at school do something so juvenile and innocent with her just seemed so ridiculous.

"What's so funny?" demanded Chuck.

"Oh, nothing at all…" replied Blair with a pleasant smile.

They continued feeding the ducks, standing side by side in silence.

Finally, Blair broke the silence with her question. "Has Nate ever told you anything about Serena?"

Talking to Chuck about her relationship problems was something she normally would never attempt. Of all people to see her in a vulnerable state, he was the last person she wanted. She could only imagine what he could instigate against her established power at Constance if she ever got on his bad side. But standing next to him in her haven created this intimate aura that made her mind put its guard down. In the darkness, away from the city lights and noise, it felt like it was just them.

On the other hand, Chuck seemed unfazed by her question. He already guessed that it was probably the return of Serena that drove Blair to find isolation in the middle of the night.

"Is someone feeling insecure about her relationship?" teased Chuck.

When he got no reply, he faced Blair who seemed immersed in her thoughts. Not to mention, she seemed truly depressed over whatever she was thinking.

"No!…well, I just…I think Nate has feelings for Serena," admitted Blair with a deep sigh.

"Oh...," responded Chuck. In truth, he was well aware of the fact that Nate had some sort of feelings for Serena. He saw the way Nate used to look at the "It" girl and still looked at her now that she was back from boarding school. He could tell that Nate wanted Serena but at the same time, loved Blair too.

"Have you talked to him about it?" asked Chuck.

Blair shook her head. "I can't…"

With just those two words, Chuck understood. Blair and Nate were the Golden couple, the happy couple that ruled over the social hierarchy at Constance and St. Jude's. Any sign of their relationship falling apart would immediately cause their dominance to be questioned or even worse, toppled over. To Blair, her Queen B status was everything.

"Well, are you happy with him at least?" questioned Chuck.

Blair turned startled as his probing questioning but she took a moment to ponder upon his question. Was she happy with Nate? She threw a few more pieces into the pond as she thought, not noticing how intently Chuck was staring at her.

"Yes, I am. He treats me well," answered Blair. She felt as if she were convincing herself more than Chuck. Nate did treat her well and she loved him for that but the love she felt for him wasn't that powerful, passionate love she wanted.

Once again, she failed to notice the way Chuck's jaw tighten and eyes narrow at her words.

It wasn't that Chuck loved her or anything of that sort (please, he was Chuck Bass). But he knew Blair wasn't just any fashion-obsessed, over-achieving girl. She had a dark side to her, a true nature for scheming and a power-driven side no other girl had. Her intricate complex along with her flawless physical looks made Blair one of the most attractive females Chuck ever knew. Sadly, Nate pretty much just tolerated her darker side and found it amusing for the most part.

"You need someone who appreciates you," said Chuck more brashly than he intended. He may have crossed the line there a bit…

Blair raised her eyebrows. "Are you saying Nate doesn't appreciate me?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant. Of course, your Golden Boy boyfriend appreciates you," said Chuck with annoyance. How was he going to get out of this without putting his best friend's relationship at risk?

"What I meant was, Nate could use a, uh, a little, you know, boost in his relationship...," explained Chuck. A typical Chuck Bass answer would detract her from what he was trying to imply before.

Blair rolled her eyes at his response. "So predictable coming from you."

Chuck shrugged. "Take my advice and you'll see how right I am."

"I'm not going to lose it to Nate just to find out he doesn't really love me," said Blair indignantly.

Chuck could sense that this conversation was going nowhere. One, Blair was not willing to break up with Nate. Two, he could not say anything that would cause damage to his best friend's relationship. And most importantly, Blair would always love Nate. Always have, always will wasn't it?

"I think you could use a drink right now," suggested Chuck.

Blair scoffed at his offer. "A drink with Chuck? That's leading myself into a death trap."

Chuck looked at her with narrowed eyes. "I wouldn't do anything to my best friend's girlfriend. That is, unless she wanted to herself." At his last sentence, his mouth turned into his signature smirk.

"Ha, you wish Bass," responded Blair. "But, I guess I can take you up on that drink offer."

She knew that out of any relationship Chuck had with another person, he valued his friendship with Nate the most.

They threw the rest of the bread into the pond and walked off the bridge to Chuck's limo.

Blair stirred the straw around in her second cocktail drink. "I actually can't believe I am having a drink with just you on a school night."

She gave Chuck a smile and took a sip from her drink.

Chuck smirked and couldn't help but feel some sense of accomplishment of taking Blair Waldorf out for a drink on a school night. Especially since it was junior year, Blair declared any free school night for SAT studying. But here they were now, sitting at a bar and talking about everything but Nate and Serena.

"It's the Bass charm I inherited," said Chuck.

"And I can't believe you actually stayed with me all night to listen to my stupid relationship problems," continued Blair in a very cheery voice.

Chuck could tell it was the alcohol causing her to be more talkative than usual and giddier than before.

"I think that's enough for tonight. You have school tomorrow," said Chuck authoritatively as he took the drink away from Blair.

Blair pouted and retorted, "You have school tomorrow too! And we go out plenty of times on school nights!" She began to giggle.

"You have a math test tomorrow and I doubt you want to go home tonight tipsy even," said Chuck. For any other girl, Chuck would gladly take her home wasted but Blair was, as usual, an exception. If Nate found out Chuck got his girlfriend drunk, he would be done for. Worse, if Blair failed a test because of Chuck, she would hate him for who knows how long. Having Blair hate him was something Chuck would never wish for.

"Fine, fine. You can take me home now. After I freshen up," conceded Blair. She got off her chair and headed towards the bathroom.

Chuck started sipping from his drink until he noticed the guy sitting next to him at the bar was staring at Blair walking away.

"She's taken," said Chuck simply to the man without looking at him.

The stranger looked at Chuck, holding up his drink in his hand and asked, "She yours?"

Chuck shook his head, focused on his drink. "No."

"You sure treat her like she is," commented the man.

Chuck finally turned his face to him, only to glare at him. "She's different from most girls."

The man's eyes returned to linger all over Blair, who was walking back from the bathroom. "Yeah, I'll bet."

Chuck had a strange urge to throw the contents of his glass into the creepy stranger's face but he reminded himself that he had to get Blair home.

As he got off his chair to leave with Blair, he looked at the man one last time and said, "Don't even try. You don't have a chance with her."

He walked out of the bar with Blair, trying not to think of the conversation he just had with the stranger. It was a harsh reminder of what Blair was to him, a girl that belonged to someone else. It didn't matter that he and Blair had a good time together feeding ducks or sharing drinks. Because the reality still remained the same: Blair Waldorf would never choose to be with Chuck Bass.

A/N: I apologize for two things: 1) for being so late in updating. College work took over everything. I'm not sure how next semester will go. 2) for a sad one-shot but don't worry! We know that Chuck and Blair end up together in the end. The next one will be happier, I promise you that.

Inspiration: I love writing irony into stories. Also, I wanted to write about/explore how Chuck felt towards Blair before falling in love with her (his thoughts about her and how did he see her).

FYI: I'm slowly making my way into TV writers' territory which makes writing more difficult because I like to base off what is given. HOWEVER, I plan on rewriting (more like fixing) the ending of season 3 and season 4 & 5. This is just FYI in case you get confused at why some of my future one-shots seem off of what the TV writers wrote. I like some of the basic ideas the writers used (ex. Chuck becoming a man) but not the complicated parts that destroyed what I loved about Chuck x Blair. I will explain as I write.

Reviews are appreciated.

I want to know what you think. Feedback/opinions/advice/suggestions are always read/considered :).

And if you want more Chuck x Blair one-shots, subscribe, subscribe!

Thanks for reading && much love as always,

skyblueinkpen