**** I own nothing all the characters belong to other people that aren't me****
AU –This is set 6 months after the ex-files. Everything after that episode never happened. Serena is Queen S but Blair is Prime Minister (a concept I read in a fic and love the idea of a Queen is just a figure head and B could be so much more). Both girls have spent the last 6 months being socialistas and partying almost constantly.
This fic does have a OOC for Blair's love interest so I understand if C/B shippers find it difficult however I am nothing if I am not C/B til the end and despite being a little in love with my OOC Waldass are inevitable.
I have this fic planned out but it's not my usual style so a beta or even just someone to bounce some ideas off and help with plot development would be awesomeness.
Blair looked around the pub, the dark wood and burgundy seating made it look more intimate and cosy than the sleek and minimalist bars that she usually went to. She rolled her eyes at the place, she hated themed bars and of all themed bars she could imagine O'Reilly's "Traditional Irish Pub" in the middle of New York had to be the worst.
"Remind me S, what are you doing here? Why not 151, L'Oak or even god forbid the lair of the devil himself" she asked her best friend who was more than slightly distracted making eyes at a tall tanned guy with dark brown hair and rippling muscles, he kind of looked like someone had put Dan's face on Nates body then aged him 5 years, Serena was hooked.
"You would never go to Victrola, it would go against your genius plan of avoiding Chuck until graduation!" Serena slurred in response, her slightly glazed eyes never leaving the object of her affection. "Anyway I just watched P.S. I love you again and I have decided that I want my very own Gerard Butler"
"I am not avoiding Chuck, we are friends and Gerard Butler is Scottish!" Blair moaned, more to herself than Serena because Serena was already making her way over to the man she hadn't been able to take her eyes off. "I bet this place doesn't even do Apple Martini's"
"No, but I could drop a dash of Blackcurrant into your Guinness if you like" a thick Irish accent responded from behind the bar.
"As lovely as that sounds, I don't drink… stout." She shot him her fakest smile and turned back to see Serena flirting shamelessly with the guy. It was going to be a long night; she may as well keep herself entertained. "So do they pay you extra to put that accent on? Is it supposed to drive the "punters" crazy?"
"They barely pay me at all and the accents real." He smiled at her and for a moment the Blair Waldorf calm threatened to abandon her. "Come on your can't come to O'Reilly's without having a Guinness, it's a tradition. Unless you are too scared that is, I mean it's a big drink for a wee lass like you."
Blair rolled her eyes; did this guy think he was dealing with a freshman? His completely obvious attempts at manipulation strangely endeared her to him, meeting someone so clueless was a rarity in her world. Even Jenny Humphrey a freshman from Brooklyn had more wile and was willing to hit lower blows than even she expected. She decided to have fun with this guy since by this point Serena was playing tonsil hockey with the dark haired Casanova. She held out her hand "Blair, and you are?"
"Donald, but my friends call me Donny" his blue eyes sparkled as he stared intensely at her, his smirk going all the way up to his eyes.
"Well Donny, how about we make things interesting, pour two pints of Guinness, if I finish mine before you do you make me an apple martini and keep them coming."
"And if I beat you?" he countered
"I'll leave you in peace?" she offered
"I get a date"
Blair looked at him, a crooked smile played on her lips, she didn't know if it was the fact that Serena her so called sister in singledom was currently engaged in a passionate liplock, or the fact that she hadn't had a glimpse of old fashioned romance since she had found out that "the Lord" was as kinky as he was boring, maybe it was just because Donny was gorgeous, his accent made her feel weak at the knees and the tinkle in his eyes just made her want to smile but she found herself agreeing.
As they waiting for their drinks, Guinness took an infamously long time to pour, she discovered that Donny O'Reilly's mother was from Brooklyn but moved to Ireland to live with her grandparents when she fell pregnant, he was born and raised in Galway West Ireland and moved to America when he graduated college to help his grandfather run his bar, pursue his career and get to know the family his mother left behind.
"So Miss Blair, tell me about you"
"My Dad lives in France, my mom designs clothes for a living, I'm going to Yale in the fall and I've lived in New York all my life, which kind of explains why I'm here. Serena, my best friend, wants us to do the tourist thing before we leave so I watched the St Patrick's Day parade and now I am here."
"Drinks are ready, start drinking after 3" he passed her the pint glass; it was full of dark thick liquid with even thicker foam on top of it. She gulped as she assessed the challenge, unsure if it was the heart that he had drawn in the foam with the nozzle of the pump or the fact that she was about to attempt to down a drink the consistency of soup that made her stomach do a somersault.
" 1,2,3" she shouted quickly before knocking back the glass, the thick malty liquid tasted disgusting and at one moment she thought she might throw it all up but as she relaxed her throat it seemed to get easier to let it slide down. As she swallowed the final drops she slammed the glass down on the counter and for the first time dared to look at Donny, who was looking at her with an empty glass and a massive smile on his face.
"So Blair, how does Friday at 8 sound?" she didn't think it was possible but his smile actually got wider.
Blair hated to lose, and despite the fact that seeing him again was not exactly the worse prospect in the world, she was still Blair Waldorf and he was a barman from Brooklyn, she wasn't queen anymore and if she started dating brooklynites it would only be a matter of time before someone decided to call an election. She had spent enough time with Chuck to know what the best thing to do in the face of defeat is to change the rules. "Sounds like a date, but only if you help me get my very drunk friend away from Fabio over there." She nodded towards the corner of the bar in which Serena was still getting down and dirty with the tanned Adonis from earlier.
"The gorgeous Blonde?" Donny asked, his eyes resting on Serena for just long enough for Blair to feel both the Guinness she had just drunk and the boiled bacon and cabbage that Serena had forced her sample despite her trepidation beginning to resurface. .
"Yeah that's Serena" Blair snapped, it hurt a little to think that anyone who seemed interested in her could so easily be distracted by her beautiful best friend.
"Well Fabio as you put it, is actually my friend Jonas, she is perfectly safe, he is a grand fella, wouldn't harm a hair on her little blonde head." He looked at her quizzically, studying her face wondering where the bitterness in her voice had come from.
"Not as reassuring as it could be whilst his tongue is down her throat. Don't worry I can do it myself wouldn't be the first time." She marched over to Serena, barely excusing herself and grabbed her arm yanking her out of Jonas' arms.
"Blair what the hell, we were in the middle of something" Serena shouted at her friend.
"Serena, you are drunk and I am tired we are going!" Blair hissed trying again to pull her friend towards the exit.
"No I'm staying here with Jonas, we are having fun. You are such a spoil sport Blair Waldorf; you don't want me to have fun because you can't have any." Serena pulled her arm back and giggled, she squared up to the brunette taking full advantage of the height difference "Don't blame me for having fun just because you are still hung up on Chuckles."
Blair face was full of fury, a drunken Serena was known for her low blows but bringing up Chuck was taking things too far, Blair had to get her friend out of there whilst they still had a friendship.
In the 6 months since school had restarted Serena had been steadily reverting back to how she was before boarding school, the decline had increased since Christmas when Lily had announced that she was leaving Bart for Rufus and the boy who had broken her heart had overnight become her brother.
At first Blair enjoyed the fun and escape of being on an almost constant booze fuelled rampage it certainly lead to fewer questions about why she couldn't keep her breakfast down… or her lunch. But she was getting tired, tired of the nights and strangers and increasingly worried what trouble Serena's constant need for attention would get her into.
"Serena Van Der Woodsen, haul ass now!"
Serena knew that in one way or another she had crossed the line; she gave Jonas one last kiss and slipped a piece of paper into his hand and ran to catch up with Blair as she stormed out of the bar.
Once outside Blair leaned against the brick wall of the building, gulping down air and trying to calm down before she burst into tears outside a themed pub! It wasn't what Serena said it was the way she had said it, with such distain, lording it over her that Chuck didn't want her that no one ever would. Even a barman from Brooklyn was checking out Serena moments after asking her out. As Serena burst through the doors she stepped forward and tried to hail a cab.
"I thought we had a deal" She turned as she heard Donny's voice behind her
"I said that you could have a date nothing else, I will be ready and willing Friday at 8pm, if you want me bad enough you will find me and if you don't then you don't deserve me."