Blair shrugged before bashfully replying, "Kind of."
"He hasn't been okay in over seventeen years." Serena's voice was soft.
Blair's eyes actually grew wet as she said, "S, you know I didn't have a choice."
"I know and I am still proud that you made a selfless decision." Serena replied.
"Yes. Well that 'selfless decision' had been eating me alive." Blair muttered under her breath as she unzipped the luggage she had carried up.
"There's no reason you couldn't be together now." Serena said as it came into her mind.
The idea made Blair stop what she was doing to look at Serena, who seemed overjoyed.
Blair started to shake her head, "Do you not know Chuck?"
"Oh, B-" Serena started.
"He wouldn't give me the time of day for anything, and I don't feel like making a fool out of myself in front of him." Blair interjected, "That boy has more self pride than all of us at seventeen."
"You're being silly." Serena replied.
"You know I'm not." Blair said, "If anyone makes a question on his personality or actions, 'I'm Chuck Bass' is always his reply."
Serena snorted at that before sobering, "He's been dead inside since you broke up. You should at least try." The tone of her voice sounded like a plead.
"S-" Blair started, before she decided on changing what she was about to say as she saw the look on Serena's face, "Where is he?"
Blair could have swore that Serena squealed but she was being pulled out of her room and down the stairs.
"I'll watch Caden and Ophelia." Serena said as she handed Blair the coat Blair had thrown across her luggage, "He's at the Palace bar, like always."
Serena basically pushed Blair into the elevator.
Blair was thinking about just going shopping or something else, but she didn't have her bag, which also meant no cab rides to the Palace. She'd have to walk. She put a song into her head and focused only on that so she could block all the memories that tried to make their way into her mind. She knew if she looked in certain places she would see her and Chuck at eighteen and in love, and that was something she couldn't think about right now. The walk was shorter than she remembered and the Palace was the same. The bar was the same. And the guy hunched over the bar was the same. The only thing different about any of them was that they all had gotten a bit older. When she saw him, her breath caught in her throat, he hadn't aged like she would have thought with all the drinking, partying, and sex.
He was drinking a scotch, which Blair saw as a sign that some things never change.
She sat beside him and he didn't move. She shot him a look and his eyes had grown duller than the last time she stared into them.
"Hello, Chuck." She said in a mock sharp tone.
He didn't glance her way as he replied, "It's not mine."
"Chuck." She repeated rolling her eyes.
He looked at her, "No…there is no way."
"No way what?" She asked, dropping her voice down to the level he had whispered in. He was looking at her like she wasn't real. It was heartbreaking to watch his eyes roam her face. She wasn't sure if he was not noticing that she had aged or if he was drunker than she thought and believed he was hallucinating.
"Blair." He said, reaching a hand out as though he was about to touch her face. But when it was only inches away, he stopped. His hand hung limp in the air for a second, before he brought it back to him.
She nodded slowly, waiting for him to become an ass and tell her off.
"Why are you here?" He asked, not as cruel as she would have guessed.
"I moved back." She answered.
"So, did your husband move on to someone younger?" Chuck asked, as he started to snap back into reality and sarcasm.
"My husband is dead." Blair sounded a little more bitchy than usual so he would get a hint that she wasn't about to take his crap.
"But Gossip Girl said-" Chuck started, looking confused.
Blair rolled her eyes, "You still read Gossip Girl?"
"No, Junior mentioned it." He replied quickly.
"Junior? You have a Junior?" Blair asked in an amazed tone, trying to hide the sadness that was filling her inside.
He looked disgusted, "God, no. Dan Jr."
"Chuck, please tell me that you haven't been alone this whole time." Blair said.
Chuck scoffed, "Waldorf, if you think I've been pining after you this whole time, you're wrong."
"Waldorf-Wood." She replied.
Chuck was confused, "What?"
"Blair Waldorf-Wood." She said.
"So sorry." Chuck replied sarcastically, "Anyway, I've been the opposite of single since we broke up, around what? Twenty years ago?"
"Were you lonely?" Blair asked.
"I just said I was the opposite of single." Chuck sounded ready to argue.
"Sleeping around has nothing to do with whether you are lonely or not." Blair replied.
Chuck didn't answer.
"So, why are you here? And I don't think 'I moved back' is the answer to why you are in this bar, sitting beside me." Chuck said seriously, minutes later.
Blair bit her lip, Chuck noticed it considering it was the same thing she did before she ended things between them.
"I've missed you." Her tone was a serious as the tension in the air.
Chuck rolled his eyes, getting up, "You can't miss people you don't love." With that, he left.
Caden Waldorf-Wood was annoyed with 'aunt' Serena. Sure, she was hot and he was hoping she had a daughter his age, but her happiness was getting on his last nerves. Ophelia was admiring the older blonde woman as she told them about their mother. It was strange for them to hear about a subject they never really knew about their mom.
"Your mother was the Queen of the Upper East Side." Serena said, as they relaxed on the living room set Blair had delivered to the apartment, secretly amazed at how much Ophelia and Caden looked like their mother. "She was loved, hated and envied."
"Really?" Ophelia asked, she was amazed that her mother was cool when she was seventeen. She knew her mother was gorgeous, but she never imagined that she was one of the most popular people in Manhattan.
"Yes, her boyfriend, Nate Archibald, was lusted after by almost every girl at Constance Billard. And you know that whole 'headband' trend was started by your mother." Serena answered, happy to talk about her high school years.
"No frickin' way." Caden said as Ophelia smiled widely.
"Look in the Gossip Girl archives if you don't believe me." Serena replied, giving Caden a 'I know all' look, "Just type in Blair Waldorf, you'd be amazed at the person your mother was and what you would read about her." Caden still looked skeptical.
"What's Gossip Girl?" Ophelia asked.
"Its this site where everything that the UES elite does is basically recorded. But when I say elite, I mean elite. The identity of the person is unknown and probably passed down because its still going." Serena answered, Caden's face held disgust while O looked excited, "You are going to be apart of that elite because you're the children of a legacy."
"Shit!" and "Really?" blended together as the Waldorf-Woods exclaimed.
Blair had stayed at the bar for hours. She only had about three drinks. She was thinking about the good times, the bad, and the moments in between. She was weighing in on every good thing she had ever done and all the bad ones. One moment that she couldn't get out of her mind was the moment that really put her on the path of life she took .
It was weird. Why would Bart Bass want to see her? But she was called in to come by his office, and out of pure curiosity, she went.
"Miss Waldorf." He said as she entered.
"You can call me Blair." She said with a smile, which faltered slightly upon seeing Bart's grim unchanging face.
"I would prefer Miss Waldorf." He replied, motioning to the chair in front of his desk.
She was confused now.
"I am guessing you are wondering why you've been called here." She nodded even though he wasn't paying attention to see what her response would be, "I want you to break off this relationship you have with my son."
Blair's mouth dropped, "What? Why?"
"Because my son has lost his head. He wants to quit the Bass business and work on this novel." Bart answered, talking about his son in a sense that Chuck was an idiot.
"So?" Blair replied.
"Basses aren't like that, and he needs to get back to the mind set of a Bass. You're the reason Charles is in his little wonderland and getting all these nonsensical ideas, and I want it to stop." Bart looked merciless and she knew he was.
"You can't threaten me into breaking up with Chuck." Blair said before adding, "I love him."
"Love?" Bart's voice was dripping with sarcasm, "Love is a poor person's word for sexual satisfaction. I will give you two million dollars if you break up with Charles."
"I don't need your money." Blair replied.
"No, but Charles does." Bart retorted, knowing he had her confused now, "I'll cut him completely off. No credit card, no trust fund, no money."
Blair almost smiled, "He's got Victorola."
"Not until his trust fund kicks in." Bart replied, "I know you have your own money but not enough to satisfy Charles's kind of spending."
Blair swallowed, Bart Bass had the Queen B backed into a corner.
"So, you're saying if I don't break it off with Chuck, you are going to take everything from him?" Blair actually stumbled with her words.
Bart nodded.
"Alright." Blair said, getting up, she stopped when she was at the door, "I'll do it but I wish you would realize you're hurting your son." She paused, "And I don't want your money…"
Even though she was away from the door and the tears were welling up inside, she heard Bart's reply, "You're just a girl."
The question B kept asking herself was why had she let Bart Bass bully her? The only bright side to the whole thing was the old saying Blair had repeated to herself over and over when they broke up, If you love something let it go, and if it was meant to be it will come back to you…And as that thought ran through her head, and she knew it might be because she might be a bit tipsy, she felt someone behind her. She turned around.
Ophelia Waldorf-Wood was so excited that Serena Humphrey was helping her unpack. Her mother was still gone and listening to Serena talk about her son Daniel had Ophelia in a good mood. She was looking forward to meeting him, and Serena promised she would get to tomorrow when Serena would send Daniel and Carter to pick up Caden and Ophelia for their first day of schooling at Constance Billard/St. Jude. Serena had told both Ophelia and Caden to call her S and she had started calling them by O and Cade. She liked the idea of a nickname and O suited her well. She was actually looking forward to school.
If my eyes fail me, which they never do…Blair Waldorf-Wood was seen today with Chuck Bass. Is she regretting their break-up? How are the little Waldorf-Woods going to feel when they find out about their mommy's past lovers? And is O going to fall for Junior Humphrey?? These are all questions that I'm dying for the answer.
XOXO
Gossip Girl
A/N:Okay this had to be the longest chapter EVER that I have written..
who was right?? Are you still hanging? Oh and to clear up something GG though B got a divorce...thats why it said 'alimony'...and if that confused anyone sorry
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