"He who beholds this, the loveliest rose on earth, shall never die." - Hans Christian Anderson

***

This was it.

The final moment.

The whole enchilada.

The last ten seconds of the fourth quarter.

There was no going back now.

I am Blair Cornelia Waldorf, Blair told herself, looking in the mirror with her chin tilted up. I am Blair Cornelia Waldorf and as soon as I walk down that aisle and say 'I do' I will be Blair Cornelia Bass.

After dealing with the ups and downs of her relationship with Chuck for the past four years, she was pretty sure that taking a quick little stroll and saying a few short words should be a cakewalk. It would all take less than ten minutes. Ten measly minutes to tie up the many loose ends they had created together. Ten minutes, and everything they'd worked for and fought for and cried about and laughed about and brought together, all the waiting and wanting and scheming and hating and loving, all of it would be worth something. It would be worth him. Worth being with him for the rest of her life.

No matter what, they would be together. They wouldn't just be Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf. They would be Mr. and Mrs. Chuck Bass. She would always be an undeniable part of him. They would wake up together every morning. They would eat breakfast, and talk about everything they had always been too afraid to say when their future together wasn't certain. They would each go off and have their day apart at work or with friends, but they would always come home and know that whatever happens, they would always be there for each other. They would have game nights with Nate and Serena and then laugh later about how far they've come since high school. They would have parties, classy soirees with cocktails and too-stiff dresses and light conversation, but then they would turn off the lights and help each other wind down and forget everything other than the two of them. They would have children, one boy and one girl, Charles Bartholomew II and Audrey Eleanor, with Blair's dark hair and Chuck's contagious smile.

She had fought so hard and so long to be with Chuck. What had seemed like World War III for so many years had brought her to this moment, where she was finally being repaid for her bravery and determination.

A knock at the door made Blair's fantasies spin out of her head as quickly as they had come.

"Sweetheart," her father said, looking quite French in a black Armani tux, "you look absolutely breathtaking."

Blair smiled, looking into the three-way mirror once more. Her chocolate hair was pulled back into a sleek chignon, twisted and bobby pinned just right. Her dress was custom made, of course, long and strapless and the lightest of creams and seemingly simple, except when you looked closer you could see the thousands of tiny pearls hand sewn onto the silky fabric. She remembered she'd been so particular about what dress she picked, but now that she was literally moments away from saying 'I do', she could have cared less what she was wearing. It all seemed so insignificant compared to what was ahead.

Blair smiled, radiant as ever. "Thanks, Daddy. You don't look half-bad yourself."

"Well, a supporting actor has to look his best, too," Harold said, holding out his arm for Blair to take. "Are you ready, Blair Bear?"

Blair drew in a deep breath, took one last look in the mirror, and then placed her arm on top of her father's. "I am."

He walked Blair to the chapel door, where she could hear the people humming inside. Chuck was in there already. That was all Blair could think about. He was in there, waiting for her to be in there to.

Harold kissed the top of her head just before the doors opened and the music started.

Seeing all the people sitting in the huge church, the priest smiling with book in hand, Serena (her maid of honor), Nate (Chuck's best man), her mom, and Lily and Rufus, made Blair so nervous that she had to remind herself to breath. She did, slowly and surely, until her eyes landed on Chuck. He was staring at her, hands crossed in front of him, the truest smile she had ever seen on his face.

He was what made her feet move forward slowly, down the aisle, when she could barely even breath. She smiled for him even as she heard voices all around her ooing and ahing about her dress, about her hair, about her, like they had done her whole life. But for once, it didn't matter. It didn't matter how many times they told her she was beautiful. The only person she believed when he told her that was Chuck. He was the only person in the world who had ever made her feel beautiful. When her mom urged Blair to lose some of her 'extra weight', Chuck traced the curve between her hips and her breasts and told her how incredibly sexy she was. While what seemed like everyone in the world fawned all over Serena with her long blonde hair and golden skin, Chuck adored Blair for her chocolate curls and porcelain skin and soft doe eyes. When Blair was around Chuck, she didn't need to wear makeup or arrange her hair just so or wear some insanely tight cocktail dress to get him to notice her. In fact, Chuck had once told her he loved her the most right when the sun was coming up, when she would jump out of bed to turn the coffee pot on and throw on his shirt.

Blair kept her eyes locked to Chuck's as she walked the last few steps down the aisle, suddenly fierce and determined. When she stood in front of him, she knew he could see the fire in her eyes because the corners of his mouth turned up into a traditional Chuck Bass smirk.

Probably thinking about what he's going to do to me later, Blair thought, not even a little bit mad. She, too, had imagined this scene in the movie of her life a thousand times in the past few months. But she couldn't think about that right now, because Chuck looked really hot in his tux and if she didn't get her mind out of the gutter then she was going to rip off his clothes right there in front of God and everyone.

The priest started talking but Blair barely heard word he was saying because Chuck would not stop staring at her with that stupid grin on his face. It was so contagious that she found her own lips turning up into the biggest smile she'd had in ages.

"Do you, Blair Cornelia Waldorf, take Charles Bartholomew Bass to be your lawful wedded husband?"

And before Blair could even open her mouth, Chuck had leaned close to her, his mouth right by her ear.

"Two words," he began, and Blair's stomach fluttered, "three letters. Say it. I'm already yours."

She was so entranced by Chuck that she couldn't even hear the whispers that were echoing throughout the church. Everyone was wondering what Chuck Bass had just said to his almost-wife.

But only Blair knew. And she planned to keep it that way.

"I do," she said, her eyes starting to water. Don't cry, Blair, don't you freaking cry, not in front of everyone.

"And do you, Charles Bartholomew Bass, take Blair-"

"I do," Chuck interrupted, still all smiles.

Blair stole a glance at the priest, who looked a little annoyed that Chuck had interrupted him. For some reason, this made her giggle.

"I hadn't finished the sentence yet," the priest started.

"It doesn't matter," Chuck said. "I choose her."

And once again, without waiting for the priest, Chuck leaned down, wrapped his arms tightly around Blair's waist, and kissed her in front of everyone. He kissed her like he always did right before they disappeared into their bedroom on 5th Avenue and didn't come out for hours, sometimes days. He kissed her for what seemed like a million years before pulling back reluctantly.

"Have to save some for later, don't I, Mrs. Bass?" he whispered into her ear, and her entire body heated up and she giggled just because she liked the sound of that. Mrs. Bass. "Or do I?"

And then he kissed her again.

"Oh, heavens," the priest said, shaking his head.

But Blair didn't notice any of this. She was too wrapped up in Chuck, too wrapped up in the rest of her life.