I hold onto my brother's arm as we queue up to get into the venue. I keep my head down as I've already recognised quite a few people and don't want to be confronted yet.
"Owen Watson, plus one, "he says to the doorman who unclips the rope in front of us to let us in.
"Plus one," I scoff, "Why wasn't my name on there?"
"You weren't invited," he says simply, walking forwards. Oh, shit, is this invite only? Am I crashing a party?
We walk indoors and I almost instantly get the nervous, sick feeling in my stomach again. I go to talk to Owen, but I notice he's already walked off with some other boys, leaving me stranded in the entrance.
Not knowing what to do, I walk straight over to the drinks table, trying to get my hands on something alcoholic.
I shuffle through random bottles of things before I feel someone standing next to me, closer than I'd like them to be.
"Champagne, m'y lady?" they ask and I instantly freeze. I squeeze my eyes shut, before glaring up at the boy next to me. Chuck Bass.
"I heard you were back," he states, handing me a glass of champagne which he's just poured from the bottle.
"Are you pouring it straight from the bottle so I believe that you haven't gone to great effort to spike it?" I ask, smirking at him.
"Ah, still a bitch, Quinn? I wouldn't have guessed," he says sarcastically.
"Yeh, well, you don't know me anymore," I retort, narrowing my eyes at him.
"Oh, but don't I?" He asks and I slant my head at him. He has no clue.
"No, I'm sure you don't," I reply, chugging the champagne in my hand. He goes to walk away before pressing his mouth next to my ear.
"Bye, baby," he whispers, emphasising his last word before walking away. I blink a few times, before realising what he'd just said. Does Chuck know? How does Chuck know? Who has he told, if so?
I try to follow after him but I find myself lost in the middle of a group of people. After scurrying through them, I turn the corner to see he's nowhere. Sneaky son of a bitch.
"Fuck," I mutter, knowing that Chuck could tell anyone in the next thirty seconds for all I know. I cover my face with my hands, silently freaking out in case people find out.
"Um... Are you okay?"
I turn to my left to see a boy who I don't recognise looking really concerned.
I smile, then say, "Yeh, I'm totally fucking fine."
He takes a literal step back and I panic, realising that that came off really badly, "Sorry, I don't even know your name."
"Dan, Dan Humphrey, and you are?" He holds out his hand for me to shake.
"Quinn Watson," I say and his face suddenly changes and he looks curious.
"The infamous Quinn Watson," he chuckles, "People haven't stopped talking about you since you left."
"That's lovely to hear," I say sarcastically, then I notice he scoffs, "What? Am I not allowed to be annoyed at people talking about me?"
"No, no, no, I wasn't getting annoyed at you, the girl I'm kind of dating is dancing with another boy," he sighs, motioning his hand towards the dance floor.
I grab his hand, "Let's go dance then."
I lead him to the dance floor, with my head down still and I let him lead. The music's fast but I lean in to him so I'm less familiar to other people.
"Dan?" I hear Serena question and I immediately pull back out of his arms. She's standing there with her arms crossed at Dan and she does not look happy.
Serena is the girl he's kind of dating?!
She turns to me, "And you, are you Vanessa?" She asks spitefully, and I shake my head. She clearly doesn't recognise me because of the mask.
"Vanessa? I don't know who Vanessa is." I answer, her mouth forms an 'o' shape as she realises who I actually am. God, I shouldn't have said anything.
"Wait, Quinn?" She asks, pulling me away from the middle of the dance floor. She pushes through a load of people who give her an irritated look to which I apologise for.
"Serena, stop. Just stop." I exclaim once I've had enough of her taking me somewhere else. I yank my hand out of her grip and she stops walking.
"Quinn, why are you here?" she asks maliciously, to which I reply with a scoff. I wasn't expecting a warm welcome but this is too extreme from Serena.
"You need to talk to Blair, you don't understand the wrath she'll give you when she realises you're here," Serena warns and I shake my head.
"I'm not scared of Blair, you and I both know I never have been," I protest loudly, causing people around us to look our way.
"Look, Serena, I don't want to do this in the middle of a party," I sigh, getting closer to her so people don't hear.
Next I hear a load of message alerts go off around us and I know what that means. The sound of a Gossip Girl alert is very familiar with me. Serena gets her phone out, reads it and then shows it to me.
Our Quinn's turned up to the masked ball but was she invited? Who knows. All we do know is that B won't be happy and S won't be happy. Let's see how Nate takes it, considering he's just got his best girl back. And Chuck? I'm sure they'll get their friends with benefits schedule back on in no time. I wonder if they know why Q disappeared, if anybody has any info be sure to send it in!
I roll my eyes, glancing left and right at people staring at me and Serena. I glare at them, causing them to go back to what they were doing.
"Quinn?!" I hear a dash of heels behind me and I turn around to see Is and Kati staring at me with their mouths wide open, holding their phones.
"Blair is going to kill you," Kati informs me and I shrug.
"Bring it on."
I hear a cough behind me and I turn around to see Blair glaring at me through her black mask. I look down seeing she's wearing a beautiful lacy black dress with the mask.
"Blair," I say sweetly, and she comes forward, pulling me into a hug.
"I don't know why you're back but you better not screw everything up for me again," she tells me with a venomous tone of voice, "Do not go near Nate."
She pulls away, "I'm so happy you're back," she says with a sweet smile, before walking away with Is and Kati.
"Serena, what do they know?" I ask worriedly, knowing that Blair couldn't have been that spiteful towards me without reason. Well, not with the old me anyway, she never would have dared be like that with me. Out of everyone Blair knows, she knows not to cross me. That's just the way it's always been.
"They know nothing, I know nothing," she says with furrowed brows, "What is there to know?"
I shake my head, brushing off her question, "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
"Other than Nate," she adds and I freeze, that could mean many different things.
"What do they know about Nate?" I ask hurriedly, my voice is laced with panic which I'm sure Serena notices.
"Blair thinks something happened between you two," she answers, shrugging her shoulders, "Then he..."
"Fucked you," I state simply, there's not really many other ways of putting it.
She nods, looking down at her feet, "How did you know?"
"Just heard," I reply, then I glance to my left, seeing Dan standing there on his own watching us.
"Serena, go see him," I instruct and I watch as she thinks about it before smiling at me and walking away. That was easier than I thought; not too many questions were asked.
"Hey, gorgeous," Chuck slurs next to me, "You want to get away from all of this?"
"Not with you I don't," I answer quickly, "I'm going to get a drink."
I walk away, but I can feel him hot on my heels. I can feel his breath on the back of my neck as I stop by the drinks table, fixing myself a drink.
"Quinn, I don't know if you've realised but we'd look perfect together tonight. I'm the devil and you're in this beautiful red dress. I think it's just an excuse for us to get away," he suggests, playing with the thin strap on my shoulder.
"You haven't changed, have you?" I state, crossing my arms.
"No, I'm still the same Chuck you know and love," he says before placing small kisses on the back of my neck.
I lean my head back enjoying the sensation, but I quickly flinch realising that this is Chuck and this is gross.
"Get off of me." I scold, moving away so he falls slightly forward away from me.
"What's happened to you?" he demands, angry that I'd just rejected him, "You had a baby and now you're suddenly this innocent girl."
I shush him, "Shut the fuck up, Chuck. Don't talk about my baby."
"Yours and Nate's," he smirks and I shake my head furiously at him. Someone's going to hear him in a second.
"Stop it, Chuck," I hiss, "Be fucking quiet."
"Make me." He says, bringing his finger up to my lip, caressing it gently.
I swipe his finger away, "Go find someone else to torment."
He huffs, before shaking his head and walking away with a bottle of champagne and a couple of glasses.
I look around, not really knowing where to go next when I've seen everyone that I possibly wanted to avoid.
That's when I see him.
Nathaniel Archibald.
My ex best friend. The boy who knew everything about me up until the last time I saw him.
He sees me and I can see his facial expression light up. He's happy to see me and I wish I could say the same. The only feeling I feel is anxiousness and worry and sudden panic. Those blue eyes are glistening across the room and if he gets any closer I don't think I will be able to handle them.
I take one last glance at him as I walk through a group of people where his eyes will lose me. I see the disappointment flash over him and I sigh in sadness. This would have been so much easier if it wasn't at a stupid party.
I turn the corner seeing my brother with some of his jock friends and I walk straight up to them wrapping my arm around his waist. He smiles down at me before hanging his arm around my shoulders.
After a long while of catching up with my brothers friends, I get bored wanting some fresh air. I move through the room finding a stairway to a roof top.
I climb the stairs, passing a girl in a yellow dress. She rushes down the stairs holding onto a bunch of clothes but she goes too quickly for me to say anything.
I open the door, revealing a very naked and frustrated Chuck Bass in front of the door. I stifle a laugh, seeing that he's only in a vest and underpants.
"Oh, Bass, who did this to you?" I chuckle, opening the door wider so I can get through.
"Prop the door open, Watson, then we can go back down," he sighs. I wedge a brick in between the door and the wall as he says and I follow him further out by the balcony.
"Watson, don't worry, I'm not going to try anything with you." Chuck sighs, sensing my hesitation to stand next to him by the edge of the balcony.
"Quinn, do you know how bad Nate was after you left?" he questions, looking at me.
I shake my head, and he adds, "And me, I missed you too," he nudges me and I smile, I did miss Chuck.
"I can only imagine the reasons."
"No, honestly, Quinny, the sex doesn't compare to you," he says, and I look at him to see he's actually looking sincere.
"Plus, Nate's been a complete mess without his best friend, Quinn. Even if you two did end up getting together," he states obviously and I sigh.
"How did you find out about Theo?"
"Did my research," he shrugs, "You can't be gone that long without a reason. I hired a personal investigator who traced you back to Illinois, and I found your baby's birth record, Theodore Nathaniel Watson, that's a hard one to guess at."
"Wow, thats..." I trail off, speechless, "Wow."
"I was worried, Quinn, come here," he instructs, pulling me in for a hug and I oblige wrapping my arms around his waist.
"Fuck, Chuck, you're freezing," I hiss, "Wait, why have you got no clothes on?"
"Jenny Humphrey," he states and I shrug, not knowing who that is.
"Come on, let's go down," I say, patting his cheek in a patronising way causing him to roll his eyes at me. And that smirk, I've missed that smirk.