Chuck laid down on the floor with a pillow, staring up at the ceiling. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what to do to help Blair. He could convince her to go to the police eventually. That was definitely a priority. His absence at início wasn't a problem, so he could stay with her. The phone call to Lily only lasted two minutes. He made up a story about staying with Nate because of problems at home. She believed him and even said he was a good friend to him. He felt guilty after hanging up, which rarely happened. Though he would never admit it, he actually really liked Lily.

His attention switched to the cama when he heard the sheets rustling. It had been three hours and Blair still couldn't sleep. When he sat up to check on her, she was sitting up, sheets wrapped around her body. "Are you alright?" Chuck asked.

She slowly shook her head as the tears started falling again. He grabbed a tissue from the cama side mesa, tabela and handed it to her, something he'd done at least ten times since they'd got there. "I keep seeing his face." Blair whispered hoarsely. "Every time I close my eyes, I feel him... on topo, início of me. Breathing on my neck. Pinning my wrists down on the bed." She ran her hands through her hair, and pulled her knees to her chest. "I just want to make it stop. How do I make it stop?"

Chuck felt his jaw clench. He hated that he didn't have an answer for her. All he could do was hold her and promise that everything was going to be okay. But the only thing on his mind was imagining up ways of making this guy suffer when he got his hands on him.

--

Blair finally fell asleep after three nightmares at around six. One of them was so bad, that she was actually convinced that someone had come into the room and left, and that they were hiding somewhere in the house. Chuck knew this wasn't true, because he hadn't slept one solid minute, and would have heard someone climbing the stairs. The foot of the cama wasn't exactly the most comfortable place, but he could hear everything going on outside the door. Despite knowing all of that, he gave Blair's leg a reassuring touch, and humored her.

"Wait! Take this." Blair demanded, handing him a fogo poker from under the bed. Chuck tried his best not to laugh. She must have swiped it after they came in. He was fully convinced now that she would never stop surprising him. "I'll be back." He promised, taking it from her. "I'll leave the door open."

The staff showed up the seguinte morning as usual, and to Chuck's displeasure, he couldn't convince them to leave. When Dorota got suspicious and demanded to see Blair for herself, Chuck stood in front of the closed door and lied through his teeth. "We were out with Serena and Nathaniel last night and she just came down with something. I don't think it's seguro to go in there. I'm taking care of her."

Dorota eyed him, not convinced. "You take care of Miss Blair? I don't think so. mover aside." She tried to maneuver around him, and he tried to stall por moving the same way. He gave her one of his charming smiles, but it wasn't working. That was something new.

"I'm fine, really. Chuck was just..." Blair said, now standing in the hallway with them. She had on a large robe, veste, roupão and her hair was hanging over the entire left side of her face. "...he didn't want to leave me in that state. I wouldn't let him take me to a hospital. It was probably just something I ate."

Dorota looked from Blair back to Chuck, knowing something else was going on. But somehow Blair convinced her that it wasn't necessary for her to come back until Friday, when Eleanor would be returning. They stayed in the bedroom for the rest of the day, until the doctor called Chuck in mid-afternoon. He suggested that Blair be examined por a nurse who worked for him at a clinic downtown. Chuck quickly agreed, but came face-to-face with a fuming Blair after he hung up.

"What the hell was that, Bass? You promised me!" She shouted, climbing off of the bed. "You have to sign in at a clinic. Even if I give a fake name, someone could see me. Know me. That can't happen. You... you can't make me go. I don't want to go."

Chuck sighed, putting both hands on her shoulders. She fell into his arms again, something that seemed almost natural to him now, after last night. "You know how this works. There are things they need to rule out. I'll be there. I'm not going anywhere."

--

Chuck kept his promised and stayed with her up until the nurse came in the room to do the examination. Waiting outside por himself amongst the empty chairs and egg white walls was nerve-wracking enough. The doctor informed him that the test results would be back in a few days. They were both quiet when they got back to Blair's. He couldn't think of anything to say, and could only imagine how hard it was for her to go through that.

He avoided school as much as possible over the seguinte few days, collecting all of Blair's missed assignments before cutting out early, and heading to her place. The staff still weren't showing up, even Dorota. At least the message had gotten through. There was very little conversation between the two of them. Every time he tried to talk to her about anything, she'd provide incoherent mumbles, one word responses, or would avoid the subject completely.

The nightmare's were getting worse. On the third night, he almost had a coração attack when she woke up screaming. It took him five minutos to convince her who he was, and another ten to calm her down.

por the end of the week, things had settled down, and according to the doctor, it turned out she didn't have any STD's or other complications. The days since had become very routine, almost like a marriage. Chuck would come through the elevator doors in the afternoon and she would be laying on the sofá downstairs, watching something dumb on television. He guessed the bedroom was starting to close in on her.

"Are you hungry?" She would ask quietly, walking into the kitchen. "I can make you something."

He didn't answer and just let her. At least she was moving around, doing something. He was positive she hadn't left the house since that night. It was going on six days now. She had cleaned the whole kitchen, living room, and her bedroom. In all the years he'd known her, she had never cleaned anything. Something had to be done. He shifted uncomfortably in his stool. "I've been dodging Serena. She's really worried about you."

"Me? You're the one who never goes home." Blair answered, absently making a turkey sandwich. She looked up at him, worried. "You didn't tell her anything, did you?"

"I said I wouldn't say anything and I meant it. That's not even the point." Chuck said, exasperated. Heat rose to his face and the anger was coming back at full force. He had to pace around the kitchen, hands on his head, just to try and calm himself. "You can't keep doing this, especially with Eleanor coming back at the end of the week. She's not a dense woman. She'll know somethings happened to you."

"You've obviously never met my Mother." Blair shrugged, putting the sanduíche on a plate for him. "She'll think I've been sick. Big deal."

Chuck stared back at her with disbelief. Why was she atuação so calm, like nothing had happened to her? She stared back at him with a steely expression, showing little emotion. It was unnerving. "You still haven't slept, you're not eating, you refuse to talk to me about..."

"That's because nothing happened. The subject is closed." Blair watched Chuck's eyes carefully as they moved to an exposed bruise on her right shoulder. She quickly concealed it with her robe. "When my Mother comes back, everything will go back to the way it was. It will be normal, like nothing happened at all." Her expression became colder as she angrily dumped the untouched sanduíche into the trash. "If this is about staying the night again, don't bother. I'm fine here alone. It's only a few mais days."

"Is that what...?" Chuck's breath caught in his chest, panicked. He couldn't breathe. How could she not know? "...is that what you think this is about? Blair, if you had asked me to leave that night, I wouldn't have done it. Not even if you begged. I would have gone crazy back at the penthouse worrying. At least when I'm here I know that you're safe, and I'll stay for as long as you want me to, Eleanor or no Eleanor. I'd find a way. But I've got to say that I can't take anymore of this."

Blair was still staring at him, surprised. This was the most he had said to her in days. "I've been putting this off, but I can't anymore. You won't go to the police, I've accepted that. But what I can't accept is that piece of shit getting away with what he did to you." He took a deep breath, anticipating her answer to his seguinte demand. "I want a name. Vanessa told me where the dorm is, just give me a name and I'll go."

"And do what?" Blair asked, crossing her arms across her chest. She looked unbalanced, very uncomfortable in her own body. She hung onto the counter for support. "What are you going to do when... if you find him? Turn him over to the police? Then everyone will know and my life as I know it will be over. Nothing like this ever goes away, Chuck. You know that."

Chuck stayed silent for a moment, growing angrier por the second. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep it in check. "I didn't say anything about the police."

"No." Blair answered, tears falling from her cheeks. "No." She repeated, simply. There was no way she was telling Chuck any details. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, just that she didn't want him to get into trouble. And if he knew his name and where he lived, there was no telling what he would do. She quickly realized how far away they were from each other, and how much she hated it. From the time he would leave in the morning and come back from school in the afternoon, all she could think about was Chuck walking through the door. Simply the sight of him made her feel calm and safe, like nothing else.

Chuck could feel her restlessness and moved towards her, cupping her face in his hands. "I'm sorry. I don't want to push you. I'm just, Blair, I'm mad as hell. I want you to be okay and you're not."

"I will be." She assured him, taking a deep breath. "I really, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't of stayed, and if I tell you what you want to know, and you get hurt or get into trouble, it will be my fault. I don't want you to leave. When you're here, I'm okay, when you're not...."

He felt her body start to shake and rubbed her back. "You don't have to worry about that. At this point, I really don't think I could leave if I tried. I... Blair... I amor you."

"I amor you too."

He had done it. He said it first.