Title: Lost at Sea
Author: Miss Anthrope
Disclaimer: Sure. I own Gossip Girl just like I also own Harry Potter.
Rating: T for Torque
Warning(s): For all of those who are known to be "emotionally sensitive", I suggest keeping a tissue box or a friend close.
Author's Note(s): Maybe it's because the last episode portrayed Chuck suddenly unwilling to be changed for Blair or since I've been drowning myself in Chair/Bluck stories for the past months, but I've suddenly taken a great liking to Nate/Blair stories. Maybe when Chuck finds a way to redeem himself in Season 2, I'll go back to my normal ship.
P.S. if the format of this story is effed up, I'm so sorry. The laptop I'm using now doesn't seem to wanna cooperate with me. I promise as soon as I get back home, I'm definitely fixing it. Hope it isn't too messy for you guys!
Dedication(s): To TiNa, hope to catch you in New York some time soon! Thanks for all the roadtrips and free-flowing alcoholic beverages this summer. I'll never forget it, I swear.
Summary: There was no use thinking about the What If's. The past is the past, and that was exactly what she and Nate were. N/B, implied B/C
--
The bar on First Avenue,
We went there solely for you
So you could flirt with my best friend
Kissed a girl, tell me why you're laughing.
I won't hold on, I can't hold on,
To this.
-- Everything I Once Had by The Honorary Title
--
--
"Mind if I sit here?"
"Ah, so he speaks." Nate couldn't see it, but he would have bet his life that there was a smile in there somewhere. "I was wondering if you were ever going to get around to asking instead of just sulking there behind me," Blair teased still without bothering to turn around. "One month without me, and suddenly Nathaniel Archibald has become the official stalker of South Hampton? It's a miracle Gossip Girl hasn't gotten a whiff of this."
Nate shook his head and settled himself next to Blair on the weathered bench. Even with his eyes trained to the spectacular view before them—an intricate weave of midnight blue, gold, and oranges—the green-eyed golden boy found his attention wandering to something close by: a brunette with the reddest lips he had ever seen. "Please, we all know Gossip Girl is the poster child of stalkers everywhere." Hearing the small giggle that escaped her, Nate risked a glance. The sight of a smiling Blair Waldorf, pink-cheeked and slightly windswept, had him grinning in no time. "But if it really had to come down to the two of us, I'm sure we both can agree that you're the one stalking me."
"Really now, Mr. Archibald? Why do you say that?" questioned Blair in an exaggerated version of her holier-than-thou voice.
"You've been here for at least a week. Everyone knows that this is my spot in the afternoon." Nate gestured to the scene around them with a sweep of his hands. With more than seventeen years of experience on his side, it was easy to spot the slight glint in Blair's eyes. Nate felt his smile falter. "Why, where did you think I go everyday?"
It felt to him as though the air around them suddenly crackled with tension. And judging by her blank expression, Blair did too.
"Well, from what I've seen and what everyone's been telling me, I thought that, uh," Blair rambled, "you were with Serena."
A completely irrational jolt of dread ran through Nate, who suddenly felt the need to defend himself. "There are times when she would come out here with me, but most of it's just to talk about her relationship with Humphrey or about how you were doing in Europe, specifically how she wanted to kick the crap out of Chuck." He chanced another sidelong glance and was inexplicably relieved to see her listening carefully. "But most of the time, it's just me thinking about everything: my mom, my dad, college..."
Blair nodded thoughtfully. "I know what you mean. Sometimes when I have completely nothing to do, I start to think about how much has changed over a year." Tearing her eyes away from the water, Blair pinned Nate's eyes with hers and smiled softly. "You know just before you arrived here a while ago, I was actually thinking about how we're the two people who have changed the most. We were together for so long and went through so much…and compared to last year—
"I don't know, but I was thinking that maybe it's good that we're just friends now. We don't fight anymore and it's like for the first time in years, we can really talk to each other about anything."
"Yeah," whispered Nate, all the while desperately trying to rid himself of the undeniably painful gripping sensation in his chest. Words—all fighting for a way out to the open—lodged in his throat, forcing Nate to clamp his mouth shut; if this is what made Blair happy, there was no way in hell he was becoming a selfish bastard and fuck things up again like he usually did.
Besides, what was up with him suddenly acting like a jealous boyfriend? Blair was right: things are better this way without the long uncomfortable silences and the forced conversations. And it's not like he wanted her back that way…
Nate shook his head fiercly. No, Blair was always right, especially when it came to these things.
"We were great for a while, though…" Blair bit down hard on her lower lip before suddenly correcting herself. There was no use thinking about the What If's. The past is the past…and that was exactly what she and Nate were. She stifled a sigh and glanced at him staring something past the horizon."Maybe it just wasn't meant to go that far, you know what I mean?
Nate fisted his hands in the pockets of his pants and flashed Blair his most sincere-looking smile before doing one of the few things he knew best from his mother— pretending. "Definitely." Lie. "I'm glad things worked out this way for us, Blair." Lie.