Title: Dazzling.
Summary: The year is 1923, the clothes are pretty, the parties are hot and the romance is dangerous. "We've been over for a long time!" Chuck\Blair. Multi Chapter. AU.
Authors Note: This is very heavily inspired by the 2O's time period and pretty much all of Fitzgerald's work. Note the word inspired. I don't know when I'll get a chance to update this but I just had to write it before it vanished from my mind and ceased to exist. Blair comes off as OOC in this chapter but you will see her acting normal, I promise.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
NO LONGER BEAUTIFUL
Blair Archibald, nee Waldorf was as shallow as they came. She cried over beautiful silk shirts and marveled over the latest fashions with such an intensity it rivaled the love she felt for her husband. She was erratic, bad tempered but usually always remained in control in the public eye. She had married at the age of nineteen and had a son at twenty one. Her husband, Nathaniel Archibald, most commonly referred to as "Nate" was some big important figure but she didn't pay much attention to what he did or him at all. She was sharp tongued, witty and brave most of the time. She craved for attention, she wanted everything, she wanted the world at her finger tips. She was difficult to read, easy to talk to. Her best friend, the wild Serena Van Der Woodsen who would dance until midnight and then keep on dancing, was hardly ever seen not by Blair's side. Everything couldn't be more perfect until Serena had convinced Blair and Nate to go to her "friends" party.
It was big, glamorous, intoxicating and Blair Archibald was in love with the sheer beauty of it all. She marveled over the sculptures, the wine, the fountains, the dancers, the dresses, the suits. Serena was surprised that she hadn't fallen onto the ground to cry. They were offered a platter of wine and treats and Serena and Nate scooped up a glass each and then one for Blair each. Blair took both glasses and drowned them in a second, a smile floating across her face. A huge mansion stood in front of them, glitter and confetti lay on the ground, girls giggled in circles, flapper dresses flowing in the light wind. A man came up to greet them and Serena pounced on him the first chance she got, Blair noted that this must be her "friend". Nate had made a comment earlier on in the day about Serena and her mystery "friend", "He's probably just her newest plaything. They'll be over in a week and we'll have to clean up the mess,"
He turned to greet Nathaniel and Blair but froze in his place, the arm he had extended out to Nate dropping at his side. His eyes were drawn to the creature in front of him - she hadn't aged a day. It had been seven whole years since he had seen her and at twenty five years of age she looked just as beautiful as she had at eighteen.
"Blair," He breathed, it was barely heard, Serena and Nate had brushed it off, they barely noticed what he had said but Blair heard. Her eyes locked onto his and a grin crossed her face.
"I'm Blair Archibald. You must be Serena's friend!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the once familiar neck and breathing in the once familiar scent. Her eyes fluttered closed at the feather light touch of his hands on her back and then she pulled away, the radiant smile still intact across her face.
"I'm Chuck Bass," He told the couple, he's eyes never leaving Blair. Nate didn't seem to even notice, he shook hands with the man and then went off to see if he could find a pretty blonde or something to chat up while his wife and best friend talked to the host of the party. Serena was dumb, ditzy but even she caught the tension in the air after Nate had left. It seemed to of picked up as he had left the three of them because it sure wasn't there to begin with.
"What are you doing here?" Chuck asked, not accusingly or harsh like Blair had been used too. His voice was soft, like running your hands across the finest velvet or dipping your fingers into a jar of honey and licking it off from your fingers. Sweet. It frightened Blair, she wasn't used to Chuck Bass ever being this kind towards her, not after what had happened.
"I'm sorry? This is a party, I do frequent them." She replied, her eyes scanning the crowd for anybody she knew. Most appeared to be strangers, she caught the eye of a Vanderbilt, a relation of her husband's. Chuck rolled his eyes at that statement and turned back towards Serena, he would spend no more time talking to Blair Archibald, he sneered inside of his head.
"Do the two of you know each other?" Serena asked, the words flowing out of her mouth and dancing across the tension in the air that hadn't ceased yet. Chuck shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"Of course not! Don't be crazy, now." His voice was laced with disbelief and affection. His slipped his hand inside of Serena's and they bid a small farewell too Blair before traveling around the party, just the two of them. Blair stood in the same spot, her feet glued to the ground as she watched their backs disappear from the crowd. She was left with a sense of feeling lonely, one that plagued her regularly. Another waiter had come by already, asking if she would like a glass of champagne. She took three and drowned them all in one go, throwing them carelessly aside on the grass along with the rest of the scattered glasses. Her eyes searched through the crowd trying to find her husband, she found him at last, talking to a pretty blonde that had a big chest. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she pushed people out of her way to get too him.
"Nate, darling." She greeted him with a small kiss on his cheek, she slid her arm into his and turned around to the girl who's cheeks had flushed a deep red.
"Blair Archibald," Blair introduced herself thrusting her hand out towards the girl. The other girl looked at it stupidly for a second before sliding her own sweaty palm into Blair's. Blair pulled back and discreetly rubbed her hand on Nate's pant leg, she wasn't getting sweat on her.
"I'm Jenny." The other girl shyly said, her eyes downcast towards the floor. Blair studied her for a moment deciding that the girl was younger then herself and her husband, much younger.
"Well, Nate and I should get going. I think I say Tripp somewhere in this crowd," She said politely before dragging Nate away from Jenny. The two of them found Tripp standing next to a fountain, admiring the water.
"Tripp," Nate greeted his cousin, Tripp turned around to face his cousin and his wife a small grin breaking out across his face. The three of them started a conversation that honestly bored Blair so much she doesn't even remember the topic of it. After half an hour Serena had somehow made her way back to her best friend and her best friend's husband, minus the host of the party. She greeted Tripp, a light pink flushing her cheeks. When she was younger she had thought the world of Tripp, had the biggest crush on him and despite him being married it had never really passed away. Tripp bid the group farewell and slid into his car to head home.
"Where's your new boyfriend?" Nate asks the blonde, a hint of boredom in his voice. The party was insane, over the top, reckless but he couldn't seem to get into it. Serena rolled her eyes and scrunched up her nose, a small 'ew' emitting out of her red lips.
"He's my stepbrother. Our parents got married last year." She informs them, Blair's taken aback by this statement but a tiny bit of her is also relieved. The idea of Serena and Chuck together made her stomach twist into knots. Nate's eyes narrowed at that statement, he wasn't oblivious to the way his wife had looked at the host and the way the host had looked at his wife. He had let it pass because he thought Serena and Chuck were a thing.
"He's not your boyfriend?" He asks, worry evident in his voice. His wife could be unpredictable and he didn't want her falling in love with another. It had happened before, a summer ago if he remembers correctly. They had been in France and she had met a frenchman named Louis, she had fallen head over heels in love with him and had come so close to leaving Nate. He wipes the memory from his mind, he would of left her but his mistress would never leave her husband in a million years.
"No, my boyfriend's married!" Serena excitedly shared, a giggle erupting from the inside of her belly and flowing out of her mouth getting mixed in with other high pitched, charming laughs.
"Married!" Blair repeats in disbelief, Serena nods her head, her eyes traveling over the crowd trying to pick him out. Her eyes land on him and she points her finger at him, not so discreetly.
"That's him!" Blair and Nate turn around to see where she's pointing. Nate gulps, standing next to Serena's new boyfriend is his mistress. Serena's new boyfriend is his mistress's husband.
"Daniel Humphrey? But he's poor," Whined Blair with distaste, her brows furrowing together. She had no idea why Serena would ever want to date a married poor man. He was a struggling author who owned a boring bookstore, she doesn't even understand how he was able to get into this party. Wasn't it exclusive?
"He's exciting and charming and sweet and-" Blair holds a finger up silencing the blonde.
"He's cheating on his wife. He can't be sweet, you've gone insane. Don't tell me he's sweet," Blair sometimes swore that Serena had lost her mind. Her friend had never been smart but she expected her to be smarter then this. Blair grabs Serena's gold gloved hand and drags her away from the fountain, away from her husband and towards Serena's married boyfriend and his wife, Vanessa Humphrey.
"Daniel, Vanessa!" Blair over enthusiastically greeted the couple. She had met the pair at a birthday party a year before, they smiled up at her, dis engaging in their conversation.
"Blair Archibald!" Vanessa replied, throwing her arms around the pretty brunette with doe eyes standing in front of her. Blair stiffened at Vanessa's touched and awkwardly patted the girls back. Vanessa pulled back and introduced herself to Serena, the blonde had been absent from that event, home sick with a terrible fever. Serena had thought she was going to die and had written a whole bunch of letters to everybody. Blair fell into a conversation with Vanessa about the latest scandal to rock New York, some old money scandal that had gone on with the Astoria's, not that Vanessa would know anything about money. She had been an Abrams before she became a Humphrey and the Abrams were even poorer then the Humphrey's - if that was possible.
"Oh, is that Lola?" Serena asked, squinting her eyes to see if it was her cousin. She smiled in amusement as her younger cousin gave her a light wave, Serena lifted her hand up and beckoned the girl to come over. It was funny running into people she knew at parties, it always amused her. She excused herself and passed through the mass of people to reach Lola.
"We should probably get going," Dan told Blair, linking his arm back up with Vanessa's and escorting her too a car. A light sigh escaped the brunette's mouth as she surveyed her surroundings once more. It was beautiful, it looked as if it had stepped off of the pages of a fairytale, the mansion, the party, the guests, everything about it gave Blair a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wondered if she should go over to Serena and Lola or if she should find Nate.
She eventually decided on neither, she would travel through the party by herself instead. She spent a good hour mindlessly traveling through the crowds, watching the sky light up with bursts of colour, watching as people danced recklessly, chatted with a few guests but for the most of it she stood on the sidelines. She had caught the eye of the host once or twice and quickly turned her gaze away and stalked off, she wanted nothing to do with him. She had ran into Nate and that Jenny girl towards the end of her hour of lonely travels. She tried her best not to be affected by the fact that her husband was looking at the younger, more beautiful girl as if she was the only girl at the party. She had tried to run away with some french man last year, she reminded herself. She had gotten sick of standing mutely at her husband's side and watched him praise another girl endlessly that she had simply left.
She now found herself inside the mansion, drunk people lined the walls and the ground and the top of a grand piano. She wandered deeper into the mansion, her heart swelling with affection as she gazed upon everything within the rooms. It was the most beautiful house she had ever seen and it was decorated with the most beautiful things.
"Waldorf," She heard a voice from behind her call. She squeezed her eyes shut, she wasn't Waldorf anymore. He knew that, he had to know it. Her marriage had been printed on the newspaper, she wore a ring on her finger. She turned herself around and opened up her eyes, coming face to face with the host.
"I'm not Waldorf anymore." She stated, irritation sweeping through her voice. Chuck shrugged his shoulders and took a step closer towards the girl, brushing a fallen strand of hair from her wavy bob behind her ear. She caught his hand mid action and pushed it back towards his side, pushing the strand back into her headband.
"Please, you'll always be Waldorf," He finally replied, anger returning to his voice. She had missed it earlier on in the day but it was back, it was a sign he hadn't changed. She couldn't decide whether it was a good or bad sign.
"If you'll excuse me," She said, pushing past him with as little respect as possible.
"Enjoying my party?" He asks her, his voice is full of hope. She turns towards him, a cruel laugh escapes her mouth and she shakes her head.
"It's terrible!" She's always been good at lying and then she leaves to go find her best friend. She finds her best friend lying on the grass, her gold dress lying in a puddle of red wine, Lola's sitting next to her gazing up at the stars and Nate's lying next to Serena, his eyes wide open whereas Serena's are closed in content.
"It's getting late," Blair complained, fiddling with her hairband atop her head. Serena waved her hand in the air, mumbling something nobody picked up. Blair stomped her foot impatiently, causing Nate to sit straight up, his palms pushed into the grass.
"We should get going," He says uncertainly, picking his jacket from up off of the floor. Serena sighs and stands up herself, bids farewell to her cousin and snatches her dress from out of the wine, she shoves it onto her body and drunkenly walks towards the car.
They arrive back at the Archibald's less then twenty minutes later and are greeted by a four year old little boy in his pajamas. He sleepily rubs his eyes, a small bunny rabbit hangs from out of his right hand. Blair softens at the sight of him, swooping him up into her arms and dancing around the room with him, muttering sweet things into his ear.
"I love you," She whispers over and over again, peppering kisses all over his face. Serena flops down onto the couch and nobody says anything about how red wine stains will mark the white sofa. She lazily shuts her eyes and flips onto her side, facing away from the Archibald's. She has her own room there but she can't be bothered walking up the stairs to get too it.
"He should be in bed," Nate says, pointing towards the child in his wife's arms. He lights a cigarette and takes a small puff of it, Blair plucks it out of his hands and puts it into her own mouth, slowly exhaling the smoke and handing it back to her husband. He shakes his head and throws it into the ashtray, stubbing it out gently.
"Oh please, it's perfectly fine for him to be up." She rolls her eyes as she starts singing some old song that was sung to her as a small child. Nate plucks the small child out of his wife's arms.
"If you won't put him to bed, I will." He tells her, marching up the stairs and up to the boy's room. Serena turns back over to face Blair, who has now fallen onto a puddle on the floor.
"Stop being dramatic, B." Serena yawns, affectionately calling her old friend by her old nickname.
"You don't understand Serena, you never have." Blair replies cryptically, Serena brushes it off and bids her friend goodnight, her mind on other things. Blair pulls herself from up off of the ground and starts walking up the stairs, her hand on the railing at all times.
"What was going on with you and Chuck?" Serena asks her before she vanishes out of sight, Serena's eyes are wide open now, staring intently at her friend. Blair freezes and answers her without turning around.
"Chuck who?" Her voice is carefree but there's a dangerous tone to it that Serena picks up, it sends a shiver down her spine and then Blair's gone. She can hear Blair and Nate talking up stairs, the voices are loud and deadly and Serena picks up the telltale sounds of a fight. They appear calm and relaxed in public but once at home it turns deadly, vile, dangerous. Serena shuts her eyes once more and tries her hardest to fall asleep.
A\N: This is the first chapter which I spent all morning writing instead of doing my homework, that's due in tomorrow. The end was added on at the last minute, I had only really wanted to show the party. This was a more Gatsby inspired chapter and I sort of assigned each GG character there own Gatsby role. Reviews = love. I like this, I do. I don't know when I'll find the time to write the next chapter though.