Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
Thank you for those of you who reviewed. This story was originally going to be a one shot, but I couldn't resist continuing on with Chuck's day.
Chapter 2
"Dude, where have you been?" Chuck's best friend and best man, Nate asked him as he returned to the penthouse he would be sharing with Blair after this afternoon. Nate looked seriously freaked out and hung over. "I went to give the best man's toast, and you were gone. I thought you flaked out."
"Calm down, Nathaniel," Chuck urged him, "You know me better than that. I wouldn't flake out on Blair."
"Where did you go?" Nate pressed as he went to Chuck's bar to grab himself a drink in an effort to alleviate some of the effects of the alcohol he had consumed last night.
"I went to see Blair," Chuck responded as he took the drink out of Nate's hands and handed him a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water instead, "I'd prefer that you not be drunk at my wedding."
"Your last night of freedom and you went to the woman who's taking your freedom away," Nate exclaimed incredulously.
He had never understood the relationship between his best friend and his ex-girlfriend. How they made it work was beyond him. As far as he could tell, they were always arguing. Even last night before the bachelor party, at the groom's dinner they had been arguing. It was something trivial about the honeymoon and the argument didn't last long, but still it was another night out in which they had argued. He couldn't remember a night out with them that they didn't argue.
"Don't sound so surprised, Nathaniel," Chuck laughed.
"Dude, you had one last night to do whatever you want and get away with it," Nate pointed out.
"I did exactly what I wanted. . . .what I always want," Chuck rationalized, "And we both know there are a few things I couldn't get away with if I wanted to."
"She's got you so whipped," Nate chuckled as he downed his glass of water and quickly refilled it in an effort to flush the alcohol out of his system.
"Is there any one in the world that could do it other than our fair Waldorf?" Chuck inquired as he smirked devilishly.
"How long until we have to leave for the ceremony?" Nate asked as he decided to stop teasing his buddy.
"You're the best man," Chuck responded, "You're supposed to keep us on schedule."
"Fine, four hours," Nate responded as he looked at the timepiece that Chuck had given him for his best man's gift the previous evening. Sparing no expense, Chuck had spent thousands of dollars on the Cartier original.
"Can you do me a favor before the wedding?" Chuck asked as he face turned serious as he walked to his wall safe and began punching in the access code (Blair's birthday).
"I'm not going to go get you a hooker to get it out of your system," Nate joked.
"Who needs a prostitute?" Chuck quipped, "Blair is more than enough for me."
Nate cringed at the mental image that his friend's response brought.
"Sorry I even mentioned it," Nate mumbled as he waited for Chuck to ask the favor.
"Will you give this to Blair?" Chuck responded as he pulled out a box and handed it to Nate.
"Can I look?" Nate asked as he examined the box curiously.
"Sure," Chuck nodded.
Nate pried open the box and found a beautiful 26 carat sunflower diamond necklace designed by Harry Winston. "Chuck, this is beautiful. It matched her engagement ring." Normally a guy wouldn't notice such similarities, but Blair had been so eager to show off her ring nearly everyday since they became engaged last year that it was hard to miss.
"Honestly, that wasn't even my intent," Chuck admitted, "I purchased this necklace long before I ever bought her engagement ring."
"How long?" Nate inquired curiously.
"A long time," Chuck replied simply.
He didn't want to admit that he had the necklace in his possession since the day of her seventeenth birthday party, the same day that he had purchased the Erikson Beamon necklace that he had given her. He paid the salesperson five hundred dollars to tell him what other pieces she had admired when she put the necklace on hold. This had been her absolute favorite, but it had been out of the price range that she had known Nate could afford. Chuck didn't hesitate as he called his accountant to wire the money to his account to cover the purchase. His father had been furious when he saw the money that was spent on a silly necklace, but Chuck had blown it off. It was for Blair, he rationalized. Nothing was too expensive for the love of his life.
"I'll make sure that she gets it," Nate assured her.
"Thank you," Chuck nodded as he smiled at his friend.
"Are you nervous?" Nate asked curiously.
"I thought I would be, but I'm really not," Chuck replied sincerely, "I'm marrying my soul mate. What reason do I have to be nervous? The only thing that I have to be nervous about is my vows. I've been rehearsing them for three days, and I have yet to get through them without choking up."
"Do you want to rehearse with an audience?" Nate asked as he took a seat in the plush leather chair in the center of the living area.
"That's very generous, Nathaniel, but I want Blair to be the first person to hear them," Chuck replied as he tried to stifle a yawn. He had spent more time than he had realized watching her sleep that morning, and it was finally catching up with him.
"Why don't you go lay down for a little while," Nate advised him, "We've got four hours. I'll wake you with plenty to get ready."
"That sounds like a good idea," Chuck agreed as he made his way to his bedroom. He didn't fully trust Nate to not fall asleep in the other room, so he set his alarm clock next to his bed as well as his cell phone for back up. He was not going to risk missing the biggest day of his life because he overslept.
His tuxedo was hanging up for his review. Blair had made sure that she had everything set out for before they left for the rehearsal yesterday. Not that she didn't trust him to not be able to dress himself, but this day was just too important to her to leave anything to chance. The groom had been different than the picture she had drawn as a child, but the wedding itself was still the same, he had made sure of that just as he had made sure that her prom night had met with her fantasy.
As he closed his eyes, he smiled at the picture of Blair that had popped into his head. It was his favorite memory of her, the night they had made love for the first time after he had professed his love for her. The sparkle in her eyes and the beaming smile on her face as they fell into bed were the images that he fell to sleep with. A smile found it's way to his lips.
Constructive criticism is always welcome.
