"The Fear You Won't Fall"
Chuck looked back at the Waldorf residence once more before sliding into the backseat of his limo. His head fell back against the leather seat momentarily as he pursed his lips together. This was it. The war was over, but it seemed the peace already hurt more.
"Mr. Bass, where to?" Arthur glanced into the rearview mirror.
Chuck paused, "The Empire."
Blair sat on top of her light pink duvet with her head buried in her delicate hands. She inhaled once, she exhaled longer in response. She was not going to cry. Then, she felt a single tear roll down her cheek. She flung herself back against her perfectly fluffed pillows, rolling her eyes at her own emotions.
"Miss Blair, are you okay? I see Mr. Chuck here earlier and…," Dorota trailed on, standing in the doorway.
Blair sat up and mustered a fake smile, "Oh, Dorota, I'm fine. In fact, I'm better than ever actually. Now that my war with Chuck is over, I officially have no reason to even care about his presence. The only thing that ails me is that a truce disappointingly leaves one without the title of victor, and you know how well I wear that."
"Yes, Miss Blair do love to win," Dorota glanced down once more at Blair, "but Miss Blair should not forget that she also did love Mr. Chuck, she must take some time to rest now."
"Thank you Dorota, that is all."
Chuck sat alone at his hotel's bar, already on his second glass of scotch. He figured he might be able to dull the pain with a glass of the finest but the memory of the spark when he shook her hand would not be drowned. It seemed Blair always had a way of eliciting feelings that Chuck had no clue how to suppress, whether good or bad.
As he mindlessly swirled the last few drops of scotch in the bottom of his glass, watching the amber colored liquid, he remembered how Blair often used to surprise him with a glass of his favorite in her hand and an equally exquisite lingerie set to match. There was something undeniably sexy about watching her, scantily clad, calmly take the first few sips of a drink that many men could not muster to without wincing. However, even that could not have compared to the mere fact that she had been there waiting for him.
Blair reluctantly pulled her sleeping mask to rest on her head. No matter how hard she tried, she could not sleep. She just wanted to drift away into a slumber where the memories of Chuck Bass could not haunt her. Though, he had managed to worm his way into her dreams before. Perhaps sleep was not the best method of avoidance after all.
She sighed as she climbed out of bed to search for a Hepburn movie. There was nothing a little Audrey couldn't cure. As she was about to pull Breakfast at Tiffany's from her shelf, she was hit with the memory of the last time she had watched the film.
She had convinced Chuck to watch it with her, of course, she had used methods of persuasion that she knew would easily appeal to him. Besides, they had never played roles from a Hepburn movie before at the time. Needless to say, Chuck ended up deciding that he liked the movie just as much as Blair. Blair felt herself smiling a little and quickly shoved the movie back into its place.
After his fourth drink, Chuck had returned to his suite. Leaning against his pool table and rotating the eight ball nonchalantly in his hand, he recalled all the women he had there. There had been blondes, brunettes, red heads, twins, the occasional set of triplets, but they had all been the same. They were usually enticed easily, following him back to his suite without protest, trying their best to be interesting. Some proved better than others, but somehow none before or after had ever measured up to Blair. There was something particular about the way she ran her fingernails down his back, the way she played a role, and the way she looked when she made love to him.
He recalled the time when she had confessed that she was afraid of being just another one of those women to him. At the time, he couldn't even believe that she was afraid of something so unimaginable to him.
She had been afraid of him not loving her back, but now it seemed that he was the one too afraid.
Blair, still awake, had resorted to creating a new entry in her diary. Maybe she just needed an outlet of some sort. Still, she had been sitting there with the pen in her hand for the past fifteen minutes, unable to write. The entry was to be simple, a scathing report of how horrible Chuck really was and how though not official, she believed herself to be the true winner of their war. She couldn't write it.
With Nate, with Marcus, with Carter, even with Louis, she had never felt the way she had with Chuck. No matter how much she wanted to destroy him or how much he hurt her, she could never rid herself of the memories of how happy he had made her. Thus, the diary page continued to remain blank.
In his silk robe and pajamas, Chuck downed one last glass of scotch with the hope that he would finally be able to get Blair off his mind. He wasn't supposed to miss her this much, to even care about her this much. She had ruined his relationship with Eva, she had taken the one chance he had at bettering himself away, and she hadn't let him rest since. He was supposed to be done now, but he wasn't.
Uncharacteristically placing her diary back in its trunk, Blair hesitated a moment and turned to her closet instead. In search of the perfect outfit, Blair examined the many dresses she owned in the shade of red. Chuck had a weakness for the color on her. Deciding on a dark red dress and pair of Louis Vuitton heels, she began to get dressed. She was supposed to be done now, but she wasn't.
Finally attempting to get some sleep, Chuck took his phone from his pocket and placed it on his dresser. His hand lingered a moment, maybe it was just the scotch talking, but he wanted to call Blair. Then again, Chuck Bass was never one to be so easily influenced by alcohol. Deep down, he knew it was his own desire and nothing else.
He had already agreed to let her go; he had to face it. There was no turning back now. He was alone.
As he began letting go of the phone, he felt it begin to vibrate, and his heart jumped as he read her name spelled out in five white letters.
"Blair?" Chuck asked in the smoothest voice he could manage.
There was a pause on the other end, "Chuck…"
"Yes? I do assume there is some reason you called."
"There is," Blair tried to sound composed, "I actually happen to be outside of your door."
Chuck immediately hit end call and raced to his door a little faster than he was likely to admit. He opened it to find Blair, in a gorgeous red dress with her curls flowing a little looser than usual. She looked at him, surprised momentarily, and then entered his suite before he could move out of her way. Their bodies brushed momentarily and each felt the other one shiver.
Blair took a seat on his sofa, crossed her legs, and looked pointedly up at him, "Well, I do suppose my coming here is a little unusual…"
"I wouldn't say it's so unusual," Chuck retorted, unable to resist the double entendre.
Blair glared slightly, but not so seriously, "Anyways, I know we recently reached a truce in our war. Though, I'm afraid there has been a slight problem with this that has been keeping me up all night."
Chuck looked at her to continue, "A truce leaves both parties without victory, and as you know, perhaps the best part of a game is winning."
"Blair…"
"Please, let me continue, as I was saying, it seems unfair that two people, each so richly accustomed to the taste of victory should both be left without it."
"What do you propose, Waldorf?"
The corners of her mouth turned upward, "Perhaps a homage to one of our earlier games to settle the score, once and for all."
Chuck immediately walked towards her, taking her face in his hands, and kissed her.
They both gasped as the kiss deepened.
They both kept pretending that it was only about settling the score.
A/N: After some time of absence from the fanfiction community, the need to write a Chuck and Blair story struck me. I apologize for the somewhat cliché use of a songfic, but hope you all enjoyed the story nonetheless. As always, please do review with any comments or suggestions. I look forward to hearing any feedback from all of my lovely readers!
The song used for inspiration is "The Fear You Won't Fall" by Joshua Radin. I, of course, would definitely recommend that you check him and his wonderful work out.