Title: Your Side of the Bed
Author: Shelby
Summary: "Don't you think I know that now? Don't you think it haunts me that I cannot forget the sound of you crying yourself to sleep those nights we slept a mere room apart?" Chuck questioned as his voice broke. Chuck and Blair One-Shot. Post 3X22, Season 4 Spoilers.
AN: Well I will let you know now this is not a happy story. But often in life things don't end happily. I hope you will enjoy it though. Let me know.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Chuck Bass entered the Manhattan café during his lunch hour. With his hands in his pockets, he crossed the room towards the bar. That was when he saw her. She kept from the windows, the press. Time hadn't changed her at all. She was still the definition of perfection, beauty, and grace.
Blair sat a table in the corner. Across from her was a man, about five years younger than them. If anything, he was nothing, but a boy. He had dark hair, tanned skin, and seemed far too eager in his quiet surroundings. She didn't seem to pay attention to him, but stare just past his eyes, into nothing.
And then the boy stood up and left the table for the restroom. Chuck decided to take the opportunity. He walked towards her table and stopped just behind her chair. She didn't notice him.
"Who's the stud?" he drawled. There was the tiniest hint of jealousy that passed through his thinned lips. His eyes watched her flinch, but then regain composure. He walked around and sat down where the boy had been before.
She looked at him for only a moment. Then she laughed, but it sounded so solemn, detached. "The man I'm cheating on my soon to be ex-husband with," Blair responded. The words fit together as if they formed the most casual sentence in the world. For her though, they did.
Chuck put his hands on the table and eyed them. Then he looked up to her doe brown eyes. "Does that mean you'll marry him next?" His eyebrows rose in question. He hoped that she would say no, but knew that even if she didn't, the boy still meant nothing to her.
Blair shook her head. "Oh heavens no. He's just the show I'm putting on for the public so they see it coming," she informed him. Her hand brought her teacup to her lips and she sipped. Then she set it back down and sighed.
"Another failed marriage for Blair Waldorf," he remarked. His voice was not vicious or evil though. He only stated the facts, remained honest with her. It was the only thing they could be with each other anymore.
She smiled sarcastically. "Thank you, Bass. You always did know how to kick me when I was down." Her ruby lips pursed and she shot him a pointed look.
He scoffed and raised his drink to her. "You look pretty damn high and mighty in my opinion," Chuck sneered. He then knocked the glass back and the amber liquid burned down his throat.
She watched him carefully. Once he was finished, she spoke again. "Since when has that held any regard for anyone other than your employees?" If he wanted to make things difficult then they would. There was no way she'd ever let him one up her again. She was a hard woman now, even more so a bitch than she ever thought capable.
"So there still is some of that Blair Waldorf fire I fell in love with," he smirked. Instantly, he was intrigued. And by the dark shadow that crossed her face, she wasn't.
Blair sat further back in her chair as if to pull away from him. "No, it's diminished completely," she confirmed. Her head shook in a serious fashion.
"I'll never believe that," he retorted. Her eyes snapped up to his. They locked in an intense gaze. Neither spoke for a while. But then her eyes grew cold.
She turned her nose up at him and crossed her arms. Still her eyes stayed with his. "Then you'll live believing a lie," Blair told him. There was zero sincerity in her tone.
Chuck sighed in frustration and reached across the table for her hand. When she pulled away, he didn't give up though. He couldn't touch her, but he wouldn't set her gaze free. "Don't you think it's time we give us another shot? I know I messed up big when I did, but—" he started to propose.
"Despite what you seem to believe, I have not been waiting around these past few years for you to decide to try me out again. Now let's stay how we were. You were right when you told me that we should just admit we made a mistake when falling in love with each other," Blair interrupted. Her voice was so final that she knew it just might kill him, on the inside at least.
He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I only said that because you still couldn't take me back after I took a damn bullet for your engagement ring." She could never let anything go. It drove him mad, more and more each day the years they spent apart.
Blair narrowed her eyes. She shrugged, "You forget when you said that it was in Paris. You had shown up with a new girlfriend and tried to woo me. In the end you only hurt me, a peculiar pattern with us."
"It was just another game, to me," he reasoned. It was lame excuse, but sadly the excuse was the truth for him.
Her eyes filtered away from his and she folded her hands in her lap. She just wanted him to leave, again. "And I got tired of games the moment they became all you wanted us to be," Blair said.
"You only say that because you started to lose more than often," Chuck responded. Her eyes went to his, filled with shock. He only challenged her with a look in his though.
"Which should have been your sign to stop, if you ever really loved me," she snapped. But then she took a deep breath and returned to her eerily calm state. She knew the moment she got home she'd need to take a few anxiety pills, perhaps an antidepressant, and then something to help her sleep.
He interrupted her corrupt thoughts. Chuck stood up and put a hand to his chest. "Don't you think I know that now? Don't you think it haunts me that I cannot forget the sound of you crying yourself to sleep those nights we slept a mere room apart?" he questioned as his voice broke. His eyes felt as if they would brim with tears of his own, but they didn't.
But Blair didn't accept it. She only snubbed his emotion. "You with another woman beside you. How is she? I hear she tried to take you for all you're worth." Once again, she found a way out, made them cheap. She had become a pro at it.
Chuck shook his head and fell back into his seat. His eyes pretended to look around the room. "I annulled it. She had always been a mistake," he admitted. And he knew it was a pipe dream to hope that would please her, because it wouldn't and it didn't.
Blair finished off her drink and then got money from her purse. "She told me before your memory returned that you really did love her," she revealed.
His eyes flickered up to find her staring at him. There was a sense of sadness in her brown orbs that made him want to cry, but he didn't. Instead, he almost trembled as he responded, "I wouldn't know. That wasn't me."
Blair looked away. She settled into her seat as if she planned to stay a while. Of course, she didn't, not really. "But only the better man you could have been." Her voice was just above a whisper.
But he heard it. And it made him angry. His fist banged down on the table. She jumped and then looked to him. "And what about your men? Were they good men?" Chuck spat. His dark eyes narrowed into livid, envious slits.
She shook her head. "No, the worst. And they cost me quite a pretty penny in divorce settlements. But over the years I've learned to always take care of my husbands." The cynical, twisted smile returned.
He didn't understand it and that was one of the greatest pains he knew he'd ever receive. With a defeated sigh, he sat back in his chair. "You shouldn't waste your millions away on those willing to walk away from you."
"Do not dare lecture me, Chuck Bass. You watch a couple hundred a day walk away from you each morning, the women," Blair retorted. Her voice held no emotion though. She didn't want him to think that she cared because then she'd mislead him. In order to care, a woman needed a heart, a functional one that still worked. Hers didn't.
"The conquests only stop when I'm with you," he breathed. His eyes closed and he swallowed a large lump in his throat. The more that left his lips, the more vulnerable he became.
Blair knew that, but didn't show sympathy. Instead she shrugged and stood up. "Then I suppose they shall now go one forever," she remarked.
His eyes snapped open. He saw that she put her coat on and shot up from his seat. His hand grabbed onto her shoulder. "Blair please, we're older, wiser now," he pleaded in a frantic whisper.
She pulled her arm away from his. Her eyes rolled. "Why does everyone think we become wiser with age? It isn't true. If anything we've fallen even more so into our childish habits because no one has ever forced us to break them," Blair muttered.
He tried to look her in the eyes, but she turned her back to his face. So he got as close as possible and spoke. "I could make you happy again," Chuck swore.
Blair turned around. Her eyes looked to him in disapproval. "See, still such a foolish boy with unreachable goals. But I suppose it's the best thing a man of your pride can be in the world, foolish," she told him. Then she started to walk towards the entrance.
He followed, peeved again. "And what kind of man—"
She stopped in the lobby and he almost bumped into her. Her eyes lit up with a fake sense of excitement. "You know, I think I shall marry my Spanish lover after all. He'd be number six," Blair smiled tauntingly.
She wanted a reaction and he gave her one. "You don't love him," Chuck seethed.
Blair's smile changed. It softened, but only in a way that mocked him. "And when has marriage ever been about love?" Her eyebrows rose in question and then she laughed.
"You're not just going to leave like this," he said. It was an attempt to convince both her and him of that fact. His eyes burned into hers with determination.
But she knew how quickly that tired in him. Blair smirked, "Why not? It's the perfect time of day, traffic has just cleared as much as it will." Her voice sounded purposely innocent.
He tried again. "If you want love. He won't give it to you. He doesn't love you, Blair," Chuck told her. Even if it hurt her, he'd be happy if it kept her from another meaningless marriage.
"Well then the arrangement will be equal," Blair responded. Once again, she was stern, cold. Her eyes looked to the door. They no longer turned into each other, but stood side-by-side.
"But why bother? What could he possibly do for you other than be another burden in your bank account when you tire of him?" Chuck would never understand it. He never thought she'd really stay away from him as long as she did. And now, it looked as if it'd never stop. That she'd never give him the chance to catch up and hold on again. His hand reached out to touch her arm.
She turned abruptly. He retracted his hand, but what she did next astonished him. Her hand went to his cheek and gave it one, memorable caress. "He'll keep your side of the bed warm. They all do," Blair whispered. Her eyes shined with tears that would never get the chance to fall.
"Blair—" Chuck gasped.
She cut him off though, removed her hand, and put on her gloves. "Goodbye, Bass. It was real nice seeing you again," Blair nodded. She then addressed the young lover of hers that walked towards them. "Come along, Antonio." Her voice ordered him and he followed like a puppy. They both went out the door.
Chuck's eyes widened. He chased after her. "Waldorf, Wait—" he called. But the crowd of reporters she had gone into to get to her vehicle stopped him. He stood there, trapped, and helpless.
"Miss Waldorf, can you comment about your most recent divorce? Have you started to figure why you can't get it right?" one asked. His voice was loud, rude.
Blair only laughed though. She always gave them a show. As she opened the door she leaned out and smiled real big for the camera. "Well if I had, then I'd still be married. I figure another one will be more practice though. No more questions." And then she shut off and became the harsh businesswoman they all knew from the stories.
"But Miss Waldorf!" It slammed in their faces.
The door shut, the car drove, and then she was gone. He didn't even get to say goodbye. And it was the last time Chuck Bass would see Blair Waldorf. She died of a prescription pill drug overdose the next summer. It was during the divorce of her ninth husband. She didn't love him. But when he left and she lied alone in bed that night, she decided to take her own life. The papers reported that they found her dressed up and wearing a beautiful necklace, the Erikson Beamon.
Chuck decided that was all he needed from her to know she was ready for him. They found him the morning of Christmas day that year, face down in the pavement below Victrola. Those there the night before reported that they heard him call to her at the top of his lungs. Some even say that before he jumped, they heard her call back to him.
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A/N: I know it was sad, but I haven't been in the happiest of moods lately. Hopefully with tomorrow my last day of Junior Year, that will change. Review if it was any good. Sorry if it was awful."