This is my very first fanfic! So, I'd appreciate some honest feedback!
Summary: What if Chuck left New York after "Hi, Society" in Season 1? Nearly 10 years later a death brings everyone on the Upper East Side back together. There are lingering feelings between Chuck and Blair, but will they be able to find their way back to each other after so much time?
Note: From time to time I use dialogue and scenes from the first season of Gossip Girl (in italics). I don't mean to infringe on copyrighted materials. I recognize that these characters and some dialogue are property of Josh Schwartz and the Gossip Girl writing staff. I just want to put my own little twist on things :)
The title is from the Coldplay song, "Till Kingdom Come." I'm a serious music lover and each chapter will also have the name of a song as a title. The first chapter is "Eyes On Fire" after the song by Blue Foundation.
I want to say thanks to Ellie, my wonderful beta, for all her advice and encouragement.
Chapter 1 – Eyes On Fire
"I know you don't want to talk about it…"
"Relief… I feel relief. You know I've got moves." I replied.
"Really?" He leaned closer to me. "Then why don't you get up there?" He smirked.
I giggled in response, "I'm just saying I have moves."
He brushed my shoulder playfully, "Come on, you're ten times hotter than any of those girls."
"I know what you're doing, Bass." I sighed, swirling the bubbling champagne in my glass gently.
Then I looked him directly in the eye, "You really don't think I'll go up there?"
"I know you won't do it," he declared smugly.
This kind of stunt was more typical of pre-reformed Serena, not behavior befitting Blair Waldorf. But that look in his eyes and the way he truly believed I wouldn't get up on that stage nagged at me for reasons I didn't really understand.
I was going to prove Chuck Bass wrong.
So I ordered Chuck to guard my drink and quickly climbed up stage steps in my black patent Louboutins.
The music blasted as I swayed my hips and tossed my yellow satin headband to the cheering crowd. I slowly unzipped my dress and let it fall to the floor. With my arms raised above my head I showed the club-goers my sexiest dance moves.
If only my mother knew that an Eleanor Waldorf original was tossed on the dirty floor in a burlesque club.
Though in that moment, I didn't care. I didn't care about what Eleanor Waldorf or the Archibald's wanted or expected from me. I didn't think about the girls at school that worshipped me one moment and then tossed me to the side again whenever Serena stole the spotlight. And for the first time in my life I didn't care about what Nate wanted.
I was finally free.
The crowd went wild as I slowly dipped down and twisted the long strands of pearls through my fingers.
That's when I saw him, staring back at me with a wicked smile spread across his lips and dark mystified eyes. He raised his glass to me as I continued to shake my assets in my cream colored negligee garnering more hoots and hollers from the club goers.
After my striptease Chuck and I drank and laughed together until we finally stumbled out on the streets in the early hours of the morning. His limo was ready and waiting and we slid in the back on the dark leather seats.
"Thanks for the lift home." I said as I laid my head back on the cool leather.
"You were amazing up there." He declared as he stared back at me with those dark eyes again.
It was then that I looked at Chuck Bass… truly looked at him.
Chuck had been my friend since pre-school, and I'd seen those rich, chocolate eyes plot devious plans and seduce half the female population of Manhattan. But I'd never really looked at him like this.
I slid across the back seat closer to him. I didn't think about what I was doing, the same way I didn't fully think about hopping up on the stage. It was like we were two magnets and I was being pulled closer and closer to him by forces unseen. We were so close that I could feel his warm breath on my face and then my lips brushed against his.
It was a slow kiss but there was something so different about the way our lips seemed to melt together, no other kiss had ever felt so right.
I leaned in, kissing him further.
I pulled back and he looked at me with those dark eyes again.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
I couldn't speak, I couldn't think, all I knew was that kissing Chuck Bass was amazing, and I fully intended to experience it again.
So I pressed my lips against his. He kissed back hungrily. He tasted like a mix of scotch, cigarettes, and something sweet that I just couldn't place. I wrapped my arm around his neck and he pulled me closer as our tongues danced together. His hands were everywhere, his lips were everywhere and the few articles of clothing I had left were quickly disappearing. He suckled my bottom lip and slipped one of his hands between my thighs.
"Chuck…" I begged pushing up against his hand…
"Mommy! Mommy!" I was awoken from my dreams of sexcapades past by a flurry of sandy blonde curls jumping up and down on my bed.
"Bella! Baby, what's wrong?" I quickly sat up in bed as my daughter jumped in to my arms.
"Nothing's wrong, Mommy. Dorota says breakfast is ready." She grinned up at me.
"Oh, okay baby, but don't scare Mommy like that again. I thought something bad had happened." I kissed her forehead softly and she let out a little giggle.
I set her down on the ground and quickly slipped my La Perla silk robe on over my nightgown. I smoothed my curls down quickly before picking my giggling little girl up again and carrying her down the stairs to the dining room.
"Are you excited about the last day of preschool before winter break?" I asked pushing her bangs out of her eyes.
"I'm so excited!" She squealed and explained to me the fun activities her teachers had planned for the day. I sat her down in her chair gently.
"Good morning, Ms. Blair," Dorota greeted as she placed my traditional fruit and yogurt plate at my place at the table.
"Good morning Dorota." I smiled back as I sat down to enjoy my breakfast.
I heard the door unlock and heavy footsteps made their way down the hallway.
"Good morning ladies!" my husband's familiar voice boomed.
"Daddy!" Bella exclaimed as he walked over to her and kissed her cheek. He walked over to me next placing a tender kiss on my forehead. He was sweaty from his morning run and his cheeks were flushed from the early winter air.
He took his usual seat as Dorota placed his breakfast before him.
"Oh, thank you, Dorota." Nate smiled taking a big bite of his omelet.
"Of course, Mr. Nate. I hope you had nice run in park." Dorota replied in her broken English, finally settling in her seat next to Bella.
"Oh it was great." Nate replied.
And there we sat, my dearest Dorota happily eating her oatmeal alongside my sandy haired husband and daughter. We were a perfect little family. But visions of wild nights past flooded back as I remembered my dream. I rubbed my temples, hoping to shake the images away.
"Blair, sweetheart are you okay?" Nate eyed me closely, a worried expression on his face.
"Oh I'm fine, honey, I'm just dreading going into the office. I have to meet with some new buyers from Bergdorf's today." I quickly lied and popped a few blueberries in my mouth.
"I'm sure you'll have no problem charming them." He smiled.
Before I could say anything back the sharp ring of a cellphone interrupted me.
"Hello?" Nate answered quickly.
"Oh, good morning, Serena," He continued.
"What is it? What's wrong?" He asked as his forehead creased in concern.
I started to panic at his questions. What if something happened to the baby?
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Please express my condolences to the whole family."
I felt relief at Nate's last statement. At least Serena and her baby were fine.
"Do you want to talk to Blair?" He nodded at her response and handed me his Blackberry.
"Serena? What's wrong?" I rapidly questioned her.
"I tried to call your cell but it went straight to voicemail," she explained, her voice shaky.
"I must have forgotten to plug it in last night, but that's not important, S, what's going on? It is Dan, is he alright?" I asked anxious for her response.
"No, Blair, Dan's fine. It's Bart… he had a heart attack last night. He... he didn't make it." I heard her sniffle.
"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. Do you need me to come over?"
"I couldn't ask you to do that, B. You have that meeting today, you've been talking about it for weeks now." She responded.
"S, my mother and Laurel can handle the buyers, they'll certainly understand." I sighed. My mother would certainly be irritated, but she would get over it, especially considering the circumstances.
"Oh, B, could you?" I could hear her crying quietly now.
"Of course, I'll be there as soon as I can." I assured her.
"Thank you so much, Blair, I don't know what I would do without you."
"S, you're my best friend, you know I'd do anything for you." I replied before telling her goodbye and handing Nate back his trusty Blackberry.
"I take it you'll be with Serena all day?" he asked.
"Of course," I replied and started to get up from my seat.
"Wow, Bart Bass died. I thought the guy was indestructible." Nate declared shaking his head.
"You know, I should really give Chuck a call." He continued.
My stomach did flip-flops at the mention of his name.
Flustered, I replied, "Nate, you've barely spoken to Chuck for ten years now."
"I know, B, but he was my best friend once. He's the closest thing to a brother I've ever had. I feel like I need to reach out to him." He answered, quickly scrolling through the numbers in his address book.
"You're right, give him a call." I sighed before heading out of the room and up the stairs.
I stood in my bathroom and felt an old familiar urge to make myself sick. 'No, Blair!' I mentally scolded myself. The mere mention of Chuck Bass's name was not going to turn me back into the insecure teenager I used to be.
But I could feel something, a familiar burning inside of me long hidden away after all these years.
I would have to face those dark eyes of his.
After all this time I was really going to see Chuck Bass again.