Author's notes: Btw, I'll be working on this fic in tandem with my other one-shot CB collection, "Chuck Fumes and Blair Flares". So updates of this and that fic of mine will be simultaneous (at least, I hope so, coz I've made more progress with this one).
I dedicate this one-shot collection to projectinglovee. ^_^ Love your fics and more power to you. This plot bunny popped out behind the bushes, munching a carrot while I was reading one of your fics (guess which one XD).
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Three Words, Eight Letters: I dare you
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"Spin the bottle? How tacky." The Waldorf soiree was a dignified affair for the fifth graders of the Upper East Side, not some common sleepover in Brooklyn.
"Come on, B," Serena urged her best friend who was frowning, Blair's arms crossed to show her stand against the suggested game.
Chuck just rolled his eyes. "It's no use, Serena. Let's not waste the whole night trying to convince her. The next day will come, and Blair still wouldn't be moved a bit. Just leave it."
"What are you saying, Bass?" Blair scowled at him. "That I'm scared?"
He just smirked, meeting her angry gaze head on. "I know you won't do it."
Blair gritted her teeth. She stood and stomped out of the room.
"Chuck!" Serena turned to him. "Now look what you did! You got her mad!" Serena was about to rise and go after her best friend to calm her down, but Nate, who was sitting on her other side, held on to her wrist.
"Let her cool off for a while." Nate tugged at the blonde's hand, convincing her to return to her sitting position. "Blair doesn't need to play if she doesn't want to."
Nate then turned to address all their classmates, taking charge now that Blair bailed on them. "Now, all we need is-"
Blair's stomps resounded as she entered the living room, and her return drew everyone's attention on her. She walked towards them and placed a bottle in the middle of the circle of their peers. After laying the bottle on its side, she then took her place beside Serena.
"So... how does it go?" Blair dared to ask, her embarrassment at her cluelessness showing in the reddening of her cheeks.
"Well," Serena shifted a bit, changing her Indian style of sitting to tucking her legs under her, Japanese style. "Someone spins the bottle, and that person must kiss the one the bottle points to, whether it's a boy or a girl." She finished with a giggle of excitement.
With a roll of Blair's eyes, she crossed her arms in annoyance. "That's it? How boring."
"Then you wouldn't mind playing it, would you? Coz I really wanna try this." Nate interjected.
"Yeah, B. Give it a try. Pretty please with a headband on top?"
How could Blair refuse when Nate and Serena were asking her to? Their other classmates also spoke up, urging her to join.
Blair sighed and conceded. "Fine."
"Yes!" Serena pumped her hand in the air, a celebration of victory. "So, who's gonna start?"
No one raised their hand or offered to go first to propel the commencement of the game.
"I volunteer our wonderful hostess," Chuck then spoke up. Blair glared at him.
"And why should I?"
"Because, Waldorf," He once again smirked, as if he was certain of the outcome. "I dare you."
"Wait, wait," Serena interrupted. "What if someone backs out?"
"Mmm... well..." Nate frowned as he thought hard while Chuck looked around for inspiration.
"How about we draw on that person's face with a pentel pen?" The mischief showed in Chuck's expression of glee, perhaps proud of the punishing alternative that he came up with.
"But the ink could stay on for days!" A boy protested.
"Exactly." Chuck was certain no one would suffer through having pentel pen marks on their faces for a couple of days, hence ensuring that most, if not all, will participate no matter what. "If the one who spins refuses, the person who was supposed to be kissed will draw on the spinner's face and if the person whom the bottle points to refuses, the spinner will be the one to draw on the face." Chuck clarified further the consequence of backing out.
Serena nodded. "That's a good one. So, does everyone agree to what Chuck suggested?"
No one spoke against it, only nodded to show their consent.
Nate clapped his hands twice to get everyone's attention. "Alright then. Let's start."
Serena nudged Blair, urging her to the middle. Blair crawled up to the bottle and gave it a strong spin. She pulled back to settle next to Serena and along with everyone else, watched the bottle go on and on.
The bottle made several revolutions, and everyone waited with bated breaths for the rotation's speed to decrease, awaiting the hand of destiny to halt it and point to the intended. It seemed to go agonizingly slow, and when it finally did come to a complete stop, Blair followed the invisible trail to the person she was to kiss.
"Well, well. What do we have here, Waldorf?"
"Shut up, Chuck." Blair shot back with a frustrated sigh. Of the ten boys and twelve girls in this soiree, why did it have to land on Chuck darn Bass?
"You don't happen to have a pentel pen around here, do you?"
Blair's jaw dropped in indignation. "You think I won't do it!"
"Like I said," Chuck, sitting cross-legged next to Nate, shrugged his shoulders and leaned back, his arms propping him. "I know you won't. But..." He smirked evilly. "Go on, I dare you."
Preparing herself with a deep breath, Blair stood up and sat in front of Chuck, who had now straightened his back. Blair was taking deep breaths in an effort to stave off the nervousness that was making her hands shake and her heart beat too fast. Unknowingly, she had screwed her eyes shut tightly. Inch by inch, Blair was closing the gap between their faces when-
"Are you sure?"
The interruption caused her to open her eyes. Blair was surprised to see the smarmy expression on his face was now absent.
"I'll let you draw on my face too if you want out so you won't be the only one with pentel pen drawings on the face."
She didn't expect consideration on Chuck's part, and to see his eyes intensely staring at her in uncertainty, to know that he cared enough for her comfort and consent, eased her apprehension. Her chest felt surprisingly buoyant with her newfound tranquility, but it did nothing to stop the evident palpitation of her heart and the wispy churning (but not so unpleasant) in her stomach.
Blair did not need to confirm her consent; her eyes indicated the message to him. He straightened and as she leaned her head towards him, so did he.
However, they did not delve into the kiss when their foreheads touched and their lips a mere inch from one another. A caesura, a momentary pause in a space where their breaths tangled, they closed their eyes and shyly touched lips.
It lasted a second too long, and when they parted, both were sporting blushes.
Everyone was silent, until a catcall from Nate and a whoop from Serena encouraged the others to applaud and cheer them. Both ignored it, and Blair silently returned to her post next to Serena.
It was their first kiss.
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A/n:I noticed that the markers I use to break chap titles or scenes don't work anymore. I looked back on my other fics and for some reason, they've disappeared to be replaced by effing single line breaks! I happen to put serious consideration in the aesthetic design and look of my chappies and fics so it pissed me off. When I check on documanager, the same thing happens even if I edit it. After I save, the decorative line breaks are gone to be replaced by bleak, grey, single line breaks (ugh)!
Can anyone tell me what the EFF is going on?! Or how I can get past it? Coz I'm not sure if it's a defect in my PC or 's just done something.