Blare was enjoying her Tuscan Salad at her favourite lunch spot Café M with Serena. Their table was surrounded by a sea of folders, papers and magazines.
"So you're sure you want red Gerbera's for the bouquet?" Blair asked as she munched on her salad.
Serena nodded, "Yes, so long as they're simple."
"Of course S with a few clusters of cropped beargrass and a simple ribbon tie it will look as though we just grabbed some flowers from a nearby garden."
"Perfect." Serena said with a smile.
"Now as to why you want that look is beyond me but hey its your wedding sweetie. Now for the rehearsal dinner I know Dan wanted quiet drinks at that local restaurant but your mother is quite insistent that at least some of the weeding celebrations need to take place on the better side of the bridge." Blair said ignoring Serena's tutting. "And Bart Bass is offering to pay for the grand hall at the Palace so Half-Price Humphreys wont have to take the padlocks off his wallet."
Serena rolled her eyes. "Fine I'll talk to Dan but I cant promise anything yet."
"Good. Just threaten him with a no-sex honeymoon, he'll be jumping through your hoops in no time." Blair said sipping her wine.
"Great marriage advice B, start using sex as a weapon before we even get married."
"It's the cornerstone of any successful marriage, the woman must control the man." Blair said very seriously. "If we let men make their own decisions the whole place would go to hell!"
Serena laughed, "After you're done planning the wedding I think you should seriously consider a career as a couples counsellor."
Blair looked at Serena as if she was crazy; "Oh yes I'm a marriage expert, I left my childhood sweetheart at the altar for his married best friend, only for him to go back to his pregnant wife!"
The usual silence followed that came whenever Chuck was mentioned.
"Have you spoken to him at all?" Serena asked.
Blair shook her head, "Nope. I forwarded your wedding invitation but he hasn't even R.S.V.P'd, which has really thrown my dinner menu off. I need to know if he'll be coming and if he is if Rebecca's coming too; otherwise they wont be able to eat!"
"Blair don't worry about any of that! What about you, are you ok?" Serena asked.
"Nope." Blair said quietly, then looked at her best friend. "But I will be after I pull off the most fabulous wedding of the year next week!"
Serena giggled and sat back in her chair, "Oh my god I cannot believe I'm getting married in a week! This is so scary, it doesn't even feel real yet!"
"Well enjoy it because it will all become reality before you know it, and then you'll just be another old married lady!" Blair teased.
"Thanks B!"
"Anytime," Blair laughed and checked her watch. "Shit S you need to go to your final dress fitting in like ten minutes. Look you go, let me know if theres any problems okay? I'll get this, you go."
"See you tonight." Serena said rising to her feet.
"Indeed you will." Blair smiled, "For the house warming of the decade."
As well as planning Serena's wedding Blair had thrown herself into apartment hunting to stop her thoughts wandering to Chuck. She desperately needed somewhere new with no memories of him and she had finally found somewhere. Serena kissed Blair on each cheek and quickly hurried off to the bridal shop. Blair took her time and finished her wine as she gathered up her many papers before settling the bill. Eventually she dragged herself to her feet and made her way passed the bar towards the door. She tried too squeeze her way through the busy tables but she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and soon collided with the man heading towards her, causing all her wedding files to fly across the floor as almost every head in the restaurant turned to look at Blair.
"Crap!" Blair yelled as she scrambled on the floor pulling the papers towards her.
"Here let me help you." Said the poor guy she had just rammed into as he bent down to Blair's level.
"No you don't have to really, it was my fault I wasn't paying attention…" she said looking up at him as he handed her a handful of papers. "thanks…" she murmured as she stared at her mysterious white night. "Nate…"
"Blair, hi…are you…are you alright?" He asked awkwardly as they both got to their feet.
Blair nodded, she was stunned to see him, he looked so different from their last encounter, he looked like the old Nate again.
"I'm okay," She said. "No harm done I'm just going to have to spend a couple of years reorganising all this."
Nate forced a laugh and looked down at the bridal magazines. "Are you getting married?"
"No!" Blair yelled. "No, no its for Serena. She and Dan get married next week, I sent you an invite…"
"Yeah of course, totally slipped my mind." Nate said looking relived at the thought it wasn't Blair getting married.
"Well I'll guess I'll see you there." Blair said wanting to get away as quickly as possible from this beyond awkward encounter. "Bye then."
"Blair wait!" Nate called after her. "Can we…I mean can I…can I buy you a drink?"
Blair surveyed him anxiously, "Nate I don't think that would be a good idea."
"please just to talk." He said almost begging. "just one drink."
"Okay," Blair said. "One drink."
They headed back into the bar, Nate ordered Blair a martini and got a seltzer for himself. There was an awful tension as they both sipped their drinks until Nate broke the silence.
"I've been meaning to call you but I didn't really know what to say…" he said, Blair was nervous she didn't know what he was going to say. "Blair I'm really sorry about everything; what happened between us, about how I acted…what I said to you…I'm sorry."
Blair was slightly stunned, of all the things she planned to do today a heart to heart with her former fiancé was not one of them.
"Nate I don't know what to say."
"I was an asshole to you after the wedding, I was just so angry and I wanted to hurt you." he continued, as Blair looked down at her feet. "But you were right, it would have been a huge mistake if we'd gotten married. Eventually it would have all fallen apart, I'm not saying the way it happened didn't hurt but…it was for the best in the end."
"Yeah…" Blair said still stunned by this rapid change, "Well you look great, a real improvement since our last meeting."
"Nate laughed, "I know I was in a bad place but its good now, I'm moving on with my life."
"That's great Nate." Blair said sincerely.
"So how have you been?" He asked.
Blair looked down at the bar, "Well planning Serena's wedding has taken up most of my time but apart from that I've been great, just great."
Nate smiled but he knew she wasn't telling the truth, he could always tell when Blair was lying. Blair silently begged him not to push it any further or mention Chuck, she wasn't sure she could deal with it right now.
"That's great." He said as Blair breathe a small sigh of relief. "So are you back living at the penthouse with your mom?"
Blair shook her head, "No, I've been staying at the Four Seasons but I just moved into a place on Fifth. Actually I'm having a little get together tonight."
"Ahh the traditional first post-parental apartment house warming party." Nate said.
"Exactly!" "Blair paused, not sure what made her ask. "You should come."
Nate looked unsure, "Blair I don't know…"
"No Nate you should. We've known each other for as long as I can remember and we both want a fresh start right?" Nate nodded, "Look I would really like it if we could maybe try and be friends again."
Nate smiled, "I'd like that too. Okay what the hell, I'll be there."
Blair beamed at him and hopped off her barstool. "Great! See you tonight!" she said before kissing him on the cheek and leaving.