I've had this all-but-finished story sitting around for months now while I've tried to get it just the way I want it. Originally meant to be a three-parter but when I realized I was at around 100 pages I decided to split it up into several.
The last episode I've seen is "The Empire Strikes Jack", but unfortunately I haven't been able to completely avoid spoilers so I know that Chair have broken up. I've rewritten this some more after finding that out but I wrote it to take place in the fall of 2010 so I ended up keeping it that way. In this particular story Chuck and Blair are back together (let's just assume that in this story's universe they got back together in the season three finally), but both Nate/Serena and Lily/Rufus are broken up.
All the chapters are basically done, but I'm rewriting and reworking, so it might still be a while between updates. Any suggestions or comments will be most helpful but please try not to give me any further spoilers… By and by I'll try to adjust the chapters based on what happens in the rest of the season but I'll do it when I've watched the episodes.
With all that said… let's get to the story!
It was a moment of sheer horror. At first she couldn't even believe it. She tried again but it didn't work this time either.
A sharp sensation of panic swept through her and her mouth went dry. This just could not be happening. She sucked in her tummy and tried again but still no results.
"Oh God" she whimpered in disbelief.
"What?" Chuck asked.
She didn't answer. They were in his bedroom at the Empire, getting dressed before breakfast. He was working his way into his three piece suit while eyeing the countless bowties he could choose from, visible in the open drawer in front of him. Blair was on the other end of the room, on her side of the bed, getting into her clothes. Her stockings were in place, as was her bra, visible through the creamy silk blouse she hadn't buttoned yet. But her skirt.
It wasn't new. If it had been she might have been able to tell herself she had gotten the wrong size by mistake. It wouldn't be the first time something like that had happened when she was in a hurry. But she had already worn this skirt twice before and it had fitted her perfectly both times. Not today however. Today the zipper refused to close. It was too small.
She gulped and was thankful she had her back to Chuck as she glanced down at her waistline. It didn't look any bigger than before. What the hell was wrong? She had been a size 2 since forever. Clearly this was some odd mistake and she had gotten someone else's chocolate skirt back from the dry cleaner's.
Chuck picked a bowtie and finished dressing himself while she stood there pondering her next move. Clearly the skirt was a no go. The only question was how to discard it without making too big a deal out of it.
"What's wrong?" Chuck asked, walking over to her.
"Nothing."
His hands landed on her arms and she felt his body pressed up against her back. His lips landed by her ear before he took a deep breath to enjoy the smell of her shampoo.
"My skirt got shrunk in the wash" she mumbled and let the thing drop to the floor. "That's all."
"It got shrunk at the dry cleaner's?" Chuck questioned.
"Obviously. It's suddenly too small."
Wisely he didn't say anything. She bent down and picked up the skirt, then walked over to the large closet and threw the skirt in a corner. She started going through her collection of skirts hanging in neat rows, organized by Dorota in two sections, everyday and formal. She picked a navy blue skirt Chuck had bought for her when they first started going out and walked back out to the bedroom. Chuck watched her with a smile, enjoying the sight of her in a thong and with her bra visible, while he tried to put on his wristwatch without looking.
"Remind me to tell Dorota never to go to that dry cleaner again" Blair said and stepped into the navy skirt.
She pulled it up and grabbed the zipper. The look on her face when it didn't go all the way up would have made Chuck laugh if it wasn't for the knowledge that if he did he wouldn't be getting to unzip anything for her for a long time.
"This can't be happening" Blair exclaimed. "I cannot have… have…" She gulped. "I cannot have gained weight."
"You have been looking a little fuller lately" Chuck said, tempting fate. "My little pudge."
Blair gasped and shot him a death glare.
"Chuck Bass, you are--"
"Don't get your thong in a twist" he said and held up his hands disarmingly. "I kind of like it. It's not like you're even in the same tri-state area as fat or chubby, an extra pound or two looks good on you. Plus it makes you a little more comfortable to lie on top of."
That last one was bound to be a mistake but he couldn't resist an opportunity to point it out. He had always thought she could stand to gain a size or two, but weight wasn't something he liked discussing with his formerly bulimic girlfriend.
She yelped and then scoffed at him, almost stomping her foot. How dare he make such a comment?
"I cannot believe you!" she shrieked. "You are not going to be lying on top of me for a good long while Bass, I can tell you that!"
"Relax" he said as casually as possible. "So a skirt or two isn't fitting you this morning, so what? Come on Blair, it's really no wonder. All that water you've been drinking recently? Where do you think it's going to go? Just… stop drinking a camel's worth of water every day and you'll be back to your previous size in no time. But for the record I like you this size."
"Who cares? You're expected to like me even if I'm a size 40" Blair snarled and stomped into the closet.
"Like I said, it's bound to be all the water you've been drinking."
"I do not drink excessive amounts of water!" her voice snarled from inside the closet.
"You also drink a lot of OJ, diet soda and a drink every here and there."
She stomped back out, now without the blouse but with a dress in hand, and shot him a murderous look.
"I'm thirsty" she told him. "Besides, water is good for you. It cleans the body."
"I'm sure one liter a day would do that" Chuck said. "You don't need to drink three."
She pulled the dress over her head, relieved that it cooperatively fell down her body the way it should and didn't get stuck anywhere along the way. She walked over to the mirror and studied herself carefully, turning to look at herself from the side.
"You look ravishing" Chuck told her, sitting down on the bed to put his shoes on. "Don't worry about it."
"If it were that time of the month then I wouldn't" Blair said sullenly and started rummaging her jewelry case for something that matched her dress. "But it's two days past that and this is the first time I haven't been able to fit into my skirts since… Dr. Pepper went to medical school."
Chuck laughed and gave her an appreciative look.
"You look ravishing" he repeated.
"Ew, no, don't look at me" she frowned. "You're only saying that because it's your duty."
"Cut back on the water and stop worrying" he said, getting up from the bed. "If you're going to worry about something it should be those persistent headaches."
"They're nothing" she said, deciding upon a pair of earrings.
"No they're not" he said, casting her a concerned glance. "You've been having a constant headache for a while now and--"
"So long as the headaches don't get in the way of your sexlife then you have no cause to complain about them" Blair said. "Not that me being unwilling to have sex is going to be a problem right now. I look so hideous that you're going to need Viagra and a blindfold to even touch me."
He sighed and put his hands on her arms again. With most women he would have embarked on a speech on how ridiculous this weight obsession was, but with Blair he was afraid to say or do the wrong thing. He was already making mental notes to keep a very close eye on her for a few weeks to make sure she wasn't falling back into bulimia to shed the extra two or three pounds she had gained. Pounds he would like to keep.
"Listen…" he said, capturing her eyes in the mirror. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. Do you think you've gotten uglier in the past couple of days? Think again. You are every bit as lovely as you ever were and a few extra pounds does nothing to change that. You and I both know that you are on the skinny side, you would practically have to gain a whole extra you to be obese. And this is an easy fix. Lay off the water, go spend some time in the hotel gym for a day or two and maybe no macaroons until next week? You'll fit into those skirts again within a few days."
"If my mother knew that I--" Blair began dejectedly but he cut her off with a shush.
"Eleanor spends her time with anorexic models, the type who fall dead on the runway because all they've eaten in the past six months is a couple of crackers and an orange. Evaluating yourself based on her standards would be like me basing my view on good morals off of how my father lived his life. Or an alien race evaluating whether or not humans are an intelligent life form based on studying Nate or Serena."
She couldn't help but giggle. He wrapped his arms closer around her and drew her near, kissing her cheek. She kept looking into his eyes in the mirror, avoiding looking down at her waistline. On a rational level she knew that he was right. This was nothing. But that was easier said than done when her history made her want to starve or purge herself until all of those skirts not only fitted but were loose.
He kissed her hair and then walked out to have breakfast. She swallowed, turned to the side to eye her figure again and wondered if there was any way she would be able to skip breakfast without Chuck protesting. She could tell him she would eat in the limo, or that she had to call Dorota and that he shouldn't wait for her, she would eat after he had left. But she knew it was futile. He would see through any attempts to skip breakfast or to eat it without him being present and it would only make him watch her like a hawk for the next couple of days, making it even more difficult to eat with an appetite around him. Better then to eat her breakfast now like a good little girl and give him no reason to be concerned, so that she could skip her meals later on, or, if it came to that, purge them.
She cast one last look at herself in the mirror and felt how dry her mouth was. She didn't want to fall back into the pattern of binging and purging. She wanted to be stronger than that. Chuck was right, what did a few extra pounds matter? They could easily be shed with a little discipline. She had to be stronger than the disease.
She walked out and joined him by the breakfast table where Nate was absentmindedly chewing on a particularly rubbery looking waffle while trying to understand anything at all from the course literature he was reading. Chuck was buried in the business section of the Times while trying to drink a cup of coffee and eat an egg at the same time. Blair shook her head.
"You two are so social it freaks me" she sighed and took a seat.
"Huh?" both said, looking up from what they were reading.
"Nate would you hand me the grapefruit?" she asked.
She could probably get away with eating a fairly fat free breakfast if she let it consist mainly of grapefruit and some low-fat yogurt.
Nate and Chuck both returned to their reading and she reached for the pitcher of orange juice. She was thirsty, like she always seemed to be these days. Without a second thought she filled a large glass to the brim with juice before catching sight in the corner of her eye of Chuck glancing up from his paper. The glance only lasted a fraction of a second but it was enough to remind her of his earlier speech about how much she was drinking these days.
With a forced smile she pushed the glass towards him.
"Here you go sweetie" she said with her most endearing voice while grabbing a far too small glass for herself.
Chuck looked perplexed. He had already had a glass of orange juice, Blair knew very well that he drank his juice first and moved on to coffee later. Nate looked up from his book again with a confused expression.
"Sweetie?" he echoed, not used to hearing endearments pass between Blair and Chuck.
Blair smiled at them both and acted as if it wasn't a big deal while stabbing the grapefruit with her spoon. In an apparent fit of loyalty Chuck put down his coffee cup and picked up the glass of juice. It was roughly three times more than he liked to drink, and the thought of gulping it all down in addition to the glass he had already had made him feel nauseous, but in an effort not to anger the beast he took a few deep sips.
Nate chuckled and finished his waffle before getting up to leave the other two to themselves. Blair wolfed down her grapefruit, momentarily forgetting about her vow to eat less as the juicy fruit helped relieve her thirst at least a little. She then more or less inhaled her yogurt, finished with breakfast before Chuck had even finished his first egg. She rose promptly, placed a kiss on his cheek and fled to the bathroom to brush her teeth. The moment she was out of sight she heard him empty the contents of his glass back into the pitcher.
His eyes trailed after her and he resisted the urge to follow her into the bathroom to make sure she wasn't letting her breakfast come back up. To his relief she returned after only two minutes, looking far more chipper than he knew she felt, and when she leaned down to kiss him goodbye he felt the taste of toothpaste which assured him that she had indeed only been brushing her teeth.
"Have a great day" she chirped.
"See you later" he replied, eyeing her as she headed for the elevator.
"Sorry I'm late" Blair said, not meaning a word.
She stumbled into the waiting chair and parked her shopping bags on another without casting a glance at her lunch date. Serena looked at her with a raised eyebrow but decided not to say anything. She had been waiting for Blair for nearly half an hour but now that her friend was here she didn't want to start off their lunch by arguing.
"I wasn't even planning on going shopping" Blair sighed, taking off her coat. "It just happened."
"Like it's wont to do" Serena said and suppressed a giggle.
"Why did we have to meet here?" Blair asked and took a look around with a frown that made it seem like she was in New York's filthiest fast food joint rather than a five star establishment.
"Because they have a wonderful shrimp plate and I am dying for it" Serena said and handed her open menu to Blair. "Since you are so late I am only giving you five minutes to glance through the menu before we order. I'm starving!"
Blair made a face but obediently glanced at the menu. A waiter appeared almost instantly and they both ordered a drink. Blair couldn't wait for it to arrive as she tried to decide what to order. She wasn't feeling the least bit hungry and would happily have skipped both lunch and dinner if it wasn't for the fact that she had made these lunch plans with Serena a week ago.
"Ready to order yet?" Serena asked when their drinks finally arrived.
"Fine" Blair said. "I'll have the Caesar salad. No dressing."
"Yum" Serena said with faked enthusiasm and ordered the shrimp plate for herself.
The waiter disappeared and Blair took a deep sip from her drink. Serena eyed her and had her weekly moment of wondering how sane her best friend really was. They both sat in silence for a while, Serena waiting for Blair to speak but getting nothing.
"Bad day?" she finally offered.
"Serena I have to tell someone" Blair said before taking a deep sip from her drink.
"Then I nominate me" Serena said.
"This is serious."
"I'm pretty sure that this is you being overly dramatic, but go ahead" Serena said.
"I think there's something wrong with me" Blair said with a small voice.
"I'll say" Serena snorted. "I've known that since ten minutes after we first met. By now it's obvious to everyone; you're the only person in the world who loves Chuck Bass."
"I'm serious Serena" Blair said, something in her voice making Serena look up from her drink.
"Well… What do you mean wrong?" she asked.
"I've been… having these headaches."
"So would I if I went to bed next to Chuck every night" Serena commented dryly.
"Forget it" Blair sighed and rolled her eyes.
"No, I'm sorry B" Serena said. "I just couldn't resist. So you're having migraines?"
"I didn't say migraines" Blair corrected her. "Just headaches. At first I didn't pay much attention to it but now they're almost daily. And I'm constantly tired, it's like I haven't been fully rested in weeks. Plus I'm thirsty all the time."
"Maybe you're drinking too much water then, and that's causing the headaches?" Serena guessed.
"Rock solid theory" Blair snarled, wondering why both Chuck and Serena seemed hell-bent on attributing her symptoms to how much she was drinking.
"People get headaches Blair" Serena said and shrugged a shoulder. "Don't you think you're just stressed out right now?"
"No I don't think that's it" Blair said. "So I called my doctor and made an appointment for this afternoon."
"Well if that can help put your mind at ease… I'm sure it's nothing, B."
"The Internet begs to differ."
"Don't tell me, you googled your symptoms? Blair, google itchy feet and you'll find a website that tells you you've got cancer and will be dead by the end of the week. I thought you would be smarter than to go online for something like that."
"I am, which is why I've made the doctor's appointment" Blair said. "And no, I don't think I have cancer. I did look into it of course, but apparently brain tumors also cause nausea and my stomach has been just fine. Annoyingly enough."
Serena didn't bother trying to figure out what the last comment was supposed to mean. Their food arrived and Blair proceeded to push things around on her plate, only occasionally putting something in her mouth, while Serena ate her shrimps like there was no tomorrow.
"Cancer is off the table" Blair said. "At least I'm fairly sure of it. That doesn't mean that I'm out of the woods."
"Maybe Chuck gave you an STD."
"Serena!"
"What?" Serena said innocently. "It is Chuck."
"And you're a perfect display of virtue?"
"Maybe not, but between his eras of monogamy Chuck could out-slut me any day of the week" Serena said and bit down on another shrimp.
"It's not an STD" Blair said with a tired sigh. "I'm thinking diabetes."
"Diabetes? Like with needles and stuff?"
"It fits. And do you understand what this means Serena?"
"… Needles?" Serena guessed.
"It means no more macaroons, no more feasting on fruit and berries, because they're supposedly packed with glucose, having to have my meals at the same time each day with no wiggle room--"
"Okay, slow down Blair" Serena said. "First of all you know Belinda Weston has diabetes and you didn't see her staying away from fruit or pastries or always eating at the exact same hour every day, now did you?"
"Who cares how some unimportant girl we went to high school with handles things?" Blair fretted. "Did you know that diabetics have higher risk pregnancies?"
"No. What does that matter? You're not planning on getting pregnant, are you?"
"Of course not. But if I'm diabetic today I'm still going to be diabetic five to ten years from now when Chuck and I want to settle down. Did you also know that diabetics risk blindness, kidney failure and amputation?"
Serena couldn't help but roll her eyes. Not that she wasn't concerned for Blair's sake, and if she did indeed have diabetes then Serena would be as sympathetic as could be. Still she had a sneaking suspicion Blair wasn't thinking logically about it, and that in her best friend's head she would be blind, on dialysis with several amputated limbs while going through a high risk pregnancy before Christmas.
"Okay, Blair, I know that it would suck if you're indeed sick" she said. "Believe me, nobody wants to see you healthy more than I do. But don't let your imagination get the best of you, okay? What does Chuck say about all this?"
"I haven't told him" Blair admitted and stabbed an anchovy. "I didn't want him to worry. And, I didn't go online until about an hour ago, which by the way is what set off the shopping that made me arrive late."
"If you had told him he would have told you to relax and see what the doctor has to say before you start planning your funeral. I hope you realize there's a great chance the doctor will laugh at you and send you home with some aspirin because you're blowing simple headaches way out of proportion?"
"Or he will confirm my deepest fears and I will be forced to go home to my boyfriend and tell him he's now dating damaged goods."
"That's highly offensive to diabetics everywhere" Serena said and took a sip from her drink. "In fact, that's highly offensive to anyone who's got anything more severe than the sniffles."
"Ugh, I can't eat this" Blair groaned and tossed her fork onto the plate. "All I can think about is the doctor's appointment. Finish your seafood and come shopping with me S. Help me take my mind off it."
"I wish I could" Serena said. "But I have to be at my mom's in an hour. She's in one of her redecorating moods and has her sights set on my closet. If I don't go in there and salvage whatever I want salvaged she's going to throw away a lot of expensive couture."
"Can't it wait until tomorrow? If you've left the clothes at Lily's this long they can't be that fabulous."
"Sorry B, but Mom is doing this today and there is nothing I can do to stop her" Serena sighed. "It's all part of her Rufus cleansing ritual. But do call me when you've been to the doctor."
Blair sighed and nodded. She cast a glance at her watch, partly wishing time could move faster and partly wishing it would stand still.
Blair felt about ready to cry. Her heart was pounding in her chest and even though she tried to appear cool and collected she had a sneaking suspicion that anyone who looked at her for more than two seconds would be able to tell how shaken she was.
She was sitting on the comfortable sofa outside her doctor's office, impatiently waiting. He had already seen her, examined her and given her his initial thoughts on a diagnosis. He had come to the same conclusion that she had, that if it wasn't stress or allergies then it was most likely type two diabetes.
The fact that he had specified it as type two annoyed her. Blair Waldorf was never a type two anything. She was a one, not a two. Right now she was desperately hoping she wasn't a type anything. She had quickly dismissed the suggestion that her problems might be caused by stress. She wasn't particularly stressed, if anything she had been a lot less stressed in the past couple of weeks than she had been earlier that year. Things were good with Chuck, college was going okay and she was at Columbia now rather than NYU, and there hadn't been any real drama in her life for a while now.
The second suggestion, allergies, might have some more merit. Right now she was praying for it to be a simple allergy to dust, or something else that could easily be controlled by controlling her environment. She had never thought allergies would seem appealing but suddenly they did.
Dr. Millbrook had drawn some blood and made her leave a urine sample, just to be on the safe side. The former had been annoying and painful and the latter humiliating, but at least the two liters of water she had already drank today had come to some form of use. Dr. Millbrook had then wandered off to run an errand and asked her to wait, since apparently some results came back almost right away from the lab, glucose being one of them.
She sat and waited impatiently while Dr. Millbrook was in with another patient. There were several fashion magazines available to tread but she didn't feel interested in any of them. She couldn't relax, and her only attempt at distracting herself with fashion spreads had proven to be pointless.
The annoyingly cheerful nurse behind the desk had offered her coffee but she had turned it down, for which she thought the nurse was now thankful. Blair was fidgeting enough as it was, and the thought of how her body would handle caffeine right now wasn't too pleasant.
She sighed and glanced at the clock on the wall again. It had been almost forty minutes. What was taking so long? The doctor had told her that he did suspect diabetes, and if she was about to be handed bad news she wanted it to be handed to her right away. She could already see the vision she had of her future disappearing, even though Serena had told her she was ridiculous she would have to change any of her plans for the future just because she was diagnosed with something her doctor annoyingly insisted on calling a type two something. Blair begged to differ. Her perfect life had no place for disease, at least not any disease that lasted for longer than a couple of weeks at the most.
She glanced at the clock again and fought the urge to give Chuck a call. He didn't know she had a doctor's appointment and it would be too complicated to try and explain the whole thing to him now over the phone. Plus she would probably ruin his concentration for whatever he was working on at the moment and since there was still a slight chance that there was nothing seriously wrong with her she didn't want to do that. Still, hearing his voice would be exactly what she needed to calm herself right now. For a second she toyed with the idea of calling him just to tell him she loved him and hear him say it back, but she was too high strung at the moment to be able to sound casual so he would immediately be able to tell that something was wrong. Probably he'd chalk it up to being about her weight gain, but listening to him talk about how she shouldn't worry about her weight was the last thing she wanted right now.
Deciding to settle for a medium option between not talking to him and talking to him she sent him a quick text, simply saying those three words, eight letters. She often texted him during the day, either to say those words or to share any other thought that passed through her head. He wouldn't think it was strange or out of place.
After five minutes she got a reply, saying "My little lamb". She didn't know whether to frown or be touched. He tended to call her "lamb" as an endearment when she was sad or feeling under the weather, and today it was no doubt prompted by the incident this morning. That annoyed her, but at the same time it felt good to be called that by him when she was feeling both sad and under the weather at the same time.
Finally Dr. Millbrook finished with his other patient and called her in, having received the early results from her labs. She took a deep breath, rose and walked into the doctor's office.
Chuck arrived home that evening and his first thought was that the power had apparently gone out. Which he immediately dismissed, given that he had just gotten off the power driven elevator in which the lights worked perfectly, just as all the other lights and electronic equipment in his hotel. But his penthouse suite was dark, lit only by what seemed to be several hundred candles, Blair's trademark.
Nate obviously wasn't home, not that that came as a surprise. Chuck rarely saw Nate these days and if Blair had taken to lighting these many candles his roommate was the last person Chuck wanted to see.
"Blair?" he called out, kicking off his shoes before stepping further inside.
He noticed that soft music started to play and then he walked into the dining area and caught sight of her. She was wearing a gorgeous yellow dress, long enough to be proper but low enough to be seductive, and when she turned to face him the first thing he noticed was that she had done something with her chest to make it seem fuller. She didn't often highlight her bosom through her outfits, claiming that was Serena's whole thing and that a proper lady wouldn't call attention to her chest, but he also knew she was aware that he loved it when she dressed in a way that highlighted that particular feature. The empire cut of her dress further served to draw his eyes below hers.
She was also wearing a lovely smile, highlighted by his favorite shade of lipstick, her face framed with the kind of thick curls she arranged her hair in when she wanted him to spend a lot of time running his hands through it. Before they became involved he had never known just how much she enjoyed having someone run their fingers through her hair or massage her scalp but she could lie placidly for hours while he did just that.
All in all her appearance, and the appearance of his penthouse, signaled that she was feeling good and relaxed. Which was an unbelievable relief. He had worried all day long that she would be balancing on the edge, risking to fall back into old destructive patterns. Obviously something had changed during the day to make the worried frown from this morning disappear so completely.
Unless it was all a trick, a ruse to lower his guard and pull the wool over his eyes so that he would never think to notice what was actually going on. He suddenly found himself to be on his guard. If she was truly relaxed and in a good place then this was going to be an evening to remember, but if she wasn't he would detect it. Blair had reacted to bad news in the past by going freakishly calm and that never turned out well in the long run.
"Hi Chuck" she said with a pleased smile and picked up two champagne flutes from the table behind her.
She walked over and handed one to him, which he took without question. She clinked her glass to his and they both took a sip. His eyes never left her while he did his best to hide that he was searching for any signs that she might be putting on a show for him. She just smiled and looked at him in a way they both knew made him melt as she slowly ran her finger along the brim of the flute.
"Finally you're home" she said. "Dinner's ready."
She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his lips before turning and walking back to the table. He took his eyes off her for a second, finally noticing there was more on the table than just candlesticks.
The table had been set with the Empire's finest china, resting on the finest tablecloth, and a bouquet of flowers sat in a vase. Waiting for them was also a fondue dish, four bowls, one with chicken, one with pork, one with beef, and one with vegetables, and a whole collection of sauces. There was a larger bowl as well, covered by a lid, and he guessed there was some form of potatoes inside.
He smirked. Clever girl. Fondue took time to eat, and she would be able to eat as little as possible without him being able to tell because of the dim lighting, the fondue pot in-between them and by keeping him occupied with trying to fill his own stomach with the slow pace of the meal.
"I thought we could have a nice, romantic dinner, just you and me" she said, voice soft as silk. "Come, sit."
He obediently walked over and pulled out her chair for her. After she was properly seated he took a seat opposite her and suddenly realized that he hadn't said a single word since he saw her. He took a sip of champagne and eyed her appreciatively.
"You look… astounding."
"Oh, in this old rag?" she said with a jesting smile.
He smirked. So she was fishing for compliments? That was a good sign, unless it was exactly what she knew he would be waiting to hear, in which case it was a bad sign. Hell, this was confusing.
She smiled and increased the small flame underneath the fondue set, signaling that she wanted to start dinner.
"How was your day?" she asked gently while moving vegetables over to her plate.
"Busy."
"Mine too."
He reached over to the bowl of chicken and used one of his two dipping forks to stab a piece and put it in the pot. She leaned over to put her two forks in the pot and treated him to an even better view of her cleavage. Clever girl indeed.
The candles, the music, the romantic dinner and her appearance this evening made it hard for him to focus on anything other than how he wanted to evening to end. Although "end" was probably the wrong word. He wanted to devote a lot of time tonight to what came after dinner.
Either this was exactly what she had planned, distracting him with seduction, or she was simply just in the mood for a romantic night. He didn't want to doubt her if the latter was the case, but he also didn't want to be sidetracked by her. The little vixen knew exactly how to get his attention and how to make his blood leave his brain for southern regions in a haste, leaving him less capable of seeing through her schemes.
"How was lunch with Serena?" he asked, stabbing a large piece of beef with his other dipping fork.
"Not so good" she admitted. "I had a lot on my mind and Serena had some ridiculous seafood cravings. I didn't get too much down, which is why I'm starved now."
"If you're starved, why the fondue? Why not something that will fill you quicker?"
"Because I want a romantic meal with my boyfriend" she said cutely and lifted her two forks from the pot. "I have something in store for you later."
"Do you now?" he said, in a voice that had gotten huskier, the way it often did when he was getting aroused.
"Mm-hm" Blair said while chewing on a potato.
She handed the bowl of potatoes over to him before she put a piece of broccoli on one dipping fork and a piece of pork on the other and placed both in the pot. For a moment he forgot all about his attempts to keep a close eye on her and let his mind wander to what he would do to her once dinner was finished and time came for dessert. Then he snapped back to attention. Why was it so annoyingly easy for her to make him lose focus? He would have to concentrate and not let her divert his attention.
She moved the conversation over to college, and then to how his day had been, keeping the exchange smoothly flowing while they took their time with dinner. Most of the meal was spent waiting for another piece to be done, during which time their hands met on the table and they played with each other's fingers. He almost forgot all about his concerns as dinner went on, lost in the atmosphere she had created and in how it felt to be near her. Slowly his resolve began to weaken without him even realizing it.
"You really do look astonishing" he said when they had been eating for a while.
"I'm glad" she smiled at him. "I dressed for you."
He smirked. He knew she dressed for him. He loved how she still liked to do that, even though their relationship was no longer new and shiny.
"I wish I'd known there was a dress code" he said.
"You look fine. This coconut sauce really is amazing" she said, taking her eyes off him and moving them back to her plate.
"Oh everything is amazing" he offered generously.
She smiled at him in that lovely way again and he reached for her hand just as it was about to put another dipping fork into the pot. She looked up at him with surprise.
"Forget that. Come here" he said.
She gave him a playful look, stuck the fork in the pot and rose from her chair. She took a deep sip from her glass before walking over to him. He moved his chair out, grabbed her hand and sat her down in his lap.
"My, we are impatient tonight" she remarked with a pleased smile.
Without replying he pulled her close and kissed her hungrily. Their lips parted and they shared a look before her now open lips were on his again. He wrapped his arms around her and let his tongue slowly dance with hers, enjoying the slow, sensual kiss. Right now he didn't give half a damn about what her real purpose behind this dinner was. If she wanted to divert his attention this way then he would gladly let her. At least this once.
She broke the kiss, gave him a triumphant smile and reached for her dipping fork. She fished it out from the pot and ate the piece of broccoli right off it.
"Who'd ever thought eating broccoli could look so hot?" he mumbled.
She giggled and slowly ate the vegetable. He realized she was probably teasing him, taking her sweet time to eat something to show him that she wasn't going to starve herself. Not that starving herself had ever been her thing, really.
When she was finished with the broccoli she leaned in and kissed him again. The kiss left no doubt in his mind that dinner was now finished, even if he was still a bit hungry. There was no way he would be able to focus on fondue right now.
"As wrong as it feels to say this…" he said when their lips parted. "I think we'd better extinguish the flame."
She reluctantly rose from his lap to allow him to lean in and blow out the flame keeping the pot hot. He then motioned for her to return to his lap which she obediently did, seeking out his lips with hers. She tasted like coconut and a dozen other things at once, a bit like dinner only a hundred times better.
"I told you I had a surprise for you…" she smiled right when he was about to suggest they continue this with less clothes on.
"I can't wait" he grinned, imagining what kind of sexy underwear she was no doubt sporting underneath that dress.
"You distract me" she giggled as he started letting his tongue play at the nape of her neck.
"That's because I know you like it when I'm bad" he said, giving her a suggestive look before taking a sip from his champagne.
"Just give me your attention for five minutes and then you can be as bad as you want" she said.
He froze for a second and looked at her with a little more clarity, a little less lust. Uh-oh. That request had made the alarms in his head go off. Obviously he had been played. She wanted something, and it wasn't sex.
"I thought you would be happy to know that I went to see Dr. Millbrook today" she said, gently caressing his hair.
"Yay?" he said uncertainly.
"You said this morning you were concerned about my headaches."
"So what did he say?"
He felt a tight knot of worry in his stomach. Everything Blair had done this evening could mean two vastly different things. Was she treating him to this seductive dinner to celebrate a clean bill of health? Or was she miles deep into denial mode, rushing to her usual defense that if she pretended that everything was perfect then everything would be?
"I told him everything. How tired I've been lately, the headaches, everything."
"And?" Chuck asked, looking at her sternly. "Are we feasting because he told you there was nothing to worry about, or is this a preparation for the apocalypse?"
Something in her smile shifted, making the knot in his stomach tighten. Was she actually sick? If she was it had to be serious for her to put on this display of denial. The thought of her being gravely ill made him sick. What would he do then?
"I guess you can look at it… both ways" she said ambiguously.
"Please don't beat around the bush, just tell me."
"I thought it was good news. I was expecting the worst so what he had to say seemed quite okay by comparison."
"But there is something wrong?"
She let her fingers gently caress his cheek and wondered if she would be able to seduce him back into a good mood. Probably not. All desire had left his eyes and instead he looked at her with eyes that she couldn't quite read. She wanted him in a good mood before she told him what had happened but the chances of that scenario were getting slimmer by the minute. The best she could hope for now was that he wouldn't grow outright angry.
"I was relieved when Dr. Millbrook gave me the news" Blair told him. "I thought I had something awful, like diabetes."
"I'd take diabetes any day over some of the thoughts going through my mind right now" Chuck confessed. "What's wrong with diabetes?"
"Let's not pull on that thread right now" Blair sighed.
"Okay, so it's not diabetes. What is it then? Stress? Please tell me it's stress. I can think of about a hundred different ways I could help you unwind. We could go on a trip! Somewhere hot and humid where all we'd have to do is lie by the pool or at the beach, live off of tropical drinks and have very sweaty sex."
"I'm not stressed Chuck. Seriously though, don't worry. I thought what Dr. Millbrook told me was good news and I'm hoping you will feel the same way. I've been in a good mood all day since I left his office."
"So it is nothing then?" Chuck said.
"No there is something."
"Then tell me now, let's not drag it out and build up a ton of drama around it."
"Just shut up for a second…" Blair said, putting a finger on his lips. "And let me kiss you. Then let me talk."
She kissed him again but he wasn't as responsive as before. She groaned inwardly. This wasn't how she had wanted to tell him about the day she had had.
"Chuck…" she said slowly, looking into his eyes and caressing his cheek.
"Blair. What did you find out at the doctor's?"
"That we're having a baby."
I'm really unsure about this story so if you have any thoughts about it at all, good or bad, please let me know.
I should point out that my medical knowledge is pretty limited, and some things have been tweaked a bit to fit in better, so my apologies for anything that might seem medically incorrect. And I know the premise for this story isn't all that original, but hopefully the spin I've put on it will make it seem interesting.
Thanks for reading!